Fairy Tale
by Cordite Quill
Summary: Sarah's life is in pieces, so she isn't happy when Jareth begs her for help claiming to be lost. But, when she sees the Labyrinth in shambles, she knows she must save the Goblin King. However, can she survive when the rules are different than before?
1. No Return Address

"_Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again." – C.S. Lewis_

**Chapter One: No Return Address**

Sarah flipped through the pages of the manuscript, frowning. She said, "Chester!"

Chester, a rather rotund and short man with a balding head and fatherly eyes, swiveled around so he faced forward. The desks in the office were placed at similar lengths apart, the left-hand side against the wall. All of them faced the large, bay window at the far wall; the view of the skyscrapers was sometimes the only thing that kept them sane.

"What is it?" Chester asked.

"Did you get the information for this query? There's no return address," Sarah said, licking her fingertips so she could flip the pages faster. "Can you believe this?"

"In this business, I've become a firm believer of _anything,_" Chester answered, sardonically, as he shifted the papers around on his messy desk. He knocked over a photograph—Sarah had seen it enough times to know it was one of his three children and wife—then righted it and said, "Sorry Sar. That one went only to you."

"Well, I'll tell you where it's going now without a SASE," Sarah answered, grimly, and pitched the entire thing into the large, green recycle bin against her desk.

Chester grinned. "One down, a hundred to go."

"Story of my life," Sarah muttered, twirling back around in her seat so she was facing the window. On her desk, she had personalized her space. A photo of Toby, proudly flanked by her father and step-mother, was positioned at the corner. Next to it was a solar powered panda statue whose head bobbed rhythmically. Some days, the statue was comforting; some days it annoyed her. She stared at the panda, then with a flick of her wrist turned it around so the head bobbed away from her. She stared at her black "in" basket, where a stack of envelopes waited to be opened. Inside were manuscripts—people's words carefully typed out in twelve-point font with 1 inch margins and page numbers on the upper right-hand side—waited for her to flick through them, pick out the gems, and send them to the editors. The rest she'd toss into the trash. _Most _of them she tossed into the trash.

She fiddled on her computer; answered a few emails, surfed the web a little, sharpened her pencils, tidied the papers on her desk, and finally reached over and grabbed the envelope on the top stack. She took her sterling silver paper opener—a gift from her father—and ripped open the envelope. It was another dud submission. Boring, mundane, a fantasy story with the usual tropes; Sarah tossed it after reading only the first three chapters. By then, the end of the day had finally come. Chester had already gone home an hour before and the others had filtered out of the office—probably to deliver the manuscripts that had made the grade. Since her "out" box was pathetically empty, she only grabbed her book bag and headed out of the office.

She pressed the elevator button and stood back, waiting for the doors to open.

_Tap-tap-tap._

Sarah frowned, looking down the hallway. The lights were dimmed, as they did to save electricity in the end of the day, causing long shadows to fall down the narrow hallway. Doors lined on either side, each with careful black lettering that claimed where the door led. No one was there, yet she could have sworn she heard the sound of footsteps. There were some potted plants, mostly green ferns, but they were too short for anyone to duck behind.

Sarah turned back to the elevator and pressed the button again. Why did elevators always take so damn long when she was impatient?

_Hehehehe._

Sarah whirled around, her gaze darting around the little entrance area. It was shaped in a half-circle with padded benches, nice wallpaper, and the same type of potted plants.

"Who's there?" Sarah said, nervously. She clutched her book bag closer to her chest. There was a hard cover book in there, maybe that was enough to make her book bag a weapon if need be.

Silence was her only answer. Okay, this was starting to get creepy—and a lot like a bad horror movie. Sarah pressed the button a few more times before she reminded herself that no matter how many times she pressed the button, the elevator would be as slow as it wanted. Plus, mashing buttons on an elevator was definitely a stupid-character-in-a-horror-movie thing to do.

_Just calm down Williams, _she told herself, forcing her hand away from the panel. _You're just jumpy because the building is creepy at night._

The door opened and she ducked inside, pressing the one with "P1." Just as the doors shut, she thought she saw a shadow dart from behind one of the plants. Sarah's heart picked up speed and she leaned against the railing that followed along the elevator walls. Her breath came ragged at first, but then slowly she began to relax.

Right, definitely in her head, she'd just freaked herself out for no reason. She needed a vacation.

The elevator dinged as it opened onto the parking lot. Of course the elevator ride had been short, even though it had taken forever to get to her. She fiddled through her bag as she walked toward her car, looking for the keys.

_Hehehehe, tap-tap-tap. _Sarah shuddered and quickened her footsteps. She got to her car, pressing the unlock button, and slid inside. The car started easily. With a shaky hand, made unsteady by her pounding heart, she jammed the key into the engine and the car roared to life. She drove out of her spot and it wasn't until she left the parking structure that she began to breathe easily again.

_What had that been about? _She wondered, glancing in the rear-view window, where the skyscraper receded slowly. She turned, heading home.

# # # #

Sarah jerked awake. The television was on, but when she'd last checked, she had been watching a cooking show. Now, she was watching the evening news. Sarah sighed and stood, stretching. She winced when her neck cracked. Rubbing it, she glanced at the clock on the stove. 9:32.

She lived in a modest one-bedroom with a balcony. The living area connected with the dining and kitchen area. The balcony window provided the only major source of outdoor light.

Sarah scratched her head and looked around, then went to grab the leftovers out of her fridge and heat them in the microwave. She hated when she fell asleep on the couch after a long work day, it threw her sleep schedule off. She sighed and poured herself a glass of red wine. She took a sip and then turned back toward the living room. She froze when she saw a shadow move across her balcony.

Putting down the wine, Sarah slowly moved toward the balcony. What was that shadow? It couldn't be a pigeon; it was too big. Sarah grabbed a baseball bat she kept next to the bookcase and took another cautious step. There was something leaning against the edge of the balcony…something square…

_An envelope, _Sarah thought, sagging in relief. It couldn't be anything worth a baseball bat; she lived on the second floor, after all. What was wrong with her? She was so jumpy today. Sarah quickly walked across the apartment and opened the balcony. The envelope rustled a little in the wind. It was the white kind, the same that people sent to the publishing company with their manuscripts in them. But, this envelope looked strangely empty.

Sarah knelt down and picked it up. In a flowery script, in thick black ink across the front, the words _Sarah Williams, the Aboveground _were clearly written. Sarah paused, a sharp intake of breath the only sound. She looked around the balcony, but of course it was empty, however the footfalls and the giggling she'd heard today suddenly made sense.

_Goblins…but where is their king?_

Had _he _sent this to her and if so, why? She glanced at the left-hand corner of the envelope, but, of course, there was no return address. Sarah couldn't help it, her curiosity peaked and worried at her edges until she ran a finger under the edge of the flap and ripped it open. There was _something _in the envelope…

She flipped the envelope, shaking it under her open hand, although she wondered if that was a wise thing to do. Before she could rethink her strategy, something fell out of the envelope and landed in her palm. The balcony light caused the thing in her hand to glitter. It was a necklace with a gold chain. The pendant was stylized horns flipped downward—or a triangle or something—with a strange symbol in the center. The pendant was gold, but the center symbol—it looked like a backwards and sideways "S"—was silver.

Sarah gasped again as she recognized it. The shock made her shudder and her hand tremble.

She was holding _his _pendant. She remembered it from the time she ran the Labyrinth, especially when she had been in the peach dream. She had been the perfect height to stare at that necklace, except then, it had been mostly silver.

Sarah looked around, but she still didn't see anyone. Well, what did she expect? A giggling goblin? Or maybe a white barn owl?

Sarah headed back inside, the necklace still clutched in her hand. With every step she took, her curiosity piqued again, snapping at her heels and making her breath come fast. She stopped near the front door, where a large mirror with an ornate frame hung. Her hair was disheveled from sleeping on the sofa and her green eyes were large with a mixture of emotions: unease, distrust, surprise, but under all that did she see…eagerness? Oh yes, there was a part of her eager for this first contact with the Underground after a decade of…reality.

With a shaky breath, Sarah slowly slipped the necklace around her neck. She felt the cool, gold chain slide across her face. The pendant settled between her breasts, stark against her dark work shirt. Sarah rubbed her thumb over the symbol—and her vision went black.

She gasped, shuddering as her vision righted itself, except now the mirror she stared at was full-length with an even more ornate frame, made of brass. And staring back at her wasn't her reflection, but the Goblin King's.

He was wearing the trademark poet's shirt and tight pants, his hair flying around his hair in that strangely attractive puff. With black gloved hands, he slowly slid the pendant off his neck and said, "Quickly, quickly." He waved at someone just out of the vision of the mirror. Someone handed an envelope to him and he easily slipped the necklace into it.

Sarah's vision turned back to normal. She blinked, looking at her own green eyes in the mirror again.

"What the hell was _that?_" Sarah muttered, leaning forward until it seemed she was breathing her own words into her reflection's mouth. "What are you playing at, Goblin King? And, more importantly, do I want to indulge you?"

Sarah traced the edge of the pendant. She moved to take it off, then hesitated. After a moment, she left it. She ate her leftovers, took a shower, and curled up in bed with a book. Somewhere between page 113 and 114 of _Gulliver's Travels_, Sarah began to drift off. The book slid to the ground, causing a muffled _thump _sound that caused Sarah to shift, but otherwise didn't wake her.

"How much time has passed, exactly?" a familiar voice said and Sarah jerked awake, eyes popping open, heart already pounding.

"_You're him…you're the Goblin King." _She heard the words of memory as her gaze focused. Sitting on the edge of her bed, by her blanketed feet, was Jareth. He looked like she remembered, like he had in the mirror vision, with the poet's shirt and the tight gray pants. His knee-high leather boots filled her bedroom with the scent of oiled leather and his gloved hand was carelessly picking at the blanket.

"J—Jareth?" Sarah blinked. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Don't worry, you're asleep, Precious," Jareth said, quite cheerfully. "Did you get my letter, then?"

"Letter?" Sarah rolled onto her back and rubbed her sleepy eyes.

"That—signed, sealed, and delivered." She didn't hear him move, but suddenly he was next to her. He leaned forward and tapped the pendant as he talked. Sarah stiffened and jerked upright, surprising the Goblin King back a step.

He was too close. If she was dreaming, it was a very _real _dream. Sarah rolled over to the far end of the bed and sat up, the blanket twisting around her legs and nearly making her fall to the floor. When she focused back on Jareth, he was smirking at her.

His gaze slowly and appreciatively rolled down her body and Sarah remembered that she slept in a tank top and underwear—sometimes, other times she slept naked. This was one of the days she'd worn the tanktop and underwear, thank God. Regardless, her clothes left a lot of skin showing. She jerked the blanket up and flushed. "Excuse me!" she yelped, her voice raising a few octaves.

Jareth's smirk widened into a grin and he said, "My question still stands. How much time has passed since you wished away your brother?"

"How—how many—what?" She had to be dreaming, that was the only explanation why she was talking to the Goblin King when he dared to show up in her bedroom while she was sleeping like some creepy stalker.

"Years, Sarah," Jareth said, leaning forward so his hands rested on the bed across from her. "Because I'm noticing some _changes_—"

"Stop being a lech, Goblin King. I'm way too tired for this. If I answer your question, will you _please _answer mine?"

Jareth inclined his head.

"It's been ten years," Sarah said.

"_Ten _years?" Jareth's eyes widened and he looked away, frowning, deep in thought. He murmured, more to himself, "Has it really been ten years? What has happened, I wonder?" He turned back to her and said, "And what are you currently up to these days, Sarah Williams, one-time Labyrinth runner?"

"Oh no, Jareth, you have to answer _my _question. Why are you here?" Sarah emphasized each word of her question.

"I have a request for you."

"What request?"

"Ah, that's another question." Jareth grinned again. "Answer mine first."

Sarah grunted in frustration, throwing her hands up in the air and then quickly grabbing the blanket when she remembered that it wasn't wise to forget things around the Goblin King. The blanket only slipped a few inches, but Jareth stared nonetheless. She wondered why she was even playing this stupid game. What she _should _do was roll over and go back to sleep, ignoring the Goblin King.

Sarah said, "Which question? I'm guessing not the ones you just said?"

"What have you been doing since you left the Labyrinth?"

"Why do you want to know?" Sarah asked, but when Jareth didn't answer, she gritted her teeth and said, quickly, "Not much. I went to university, got a degree in English, and used to work as an editor on the east coast but recently I moved back home and…and I've been working as an assistant editor." Sarah prayed Jareth wouldn't notice that she went from being an editor to an assistant editor, and she was in luck, because Jareth just inclined his head. She said, "What request do you have for me?"

The Goblin King hesitated, then he stood straight and said in a regal voice, "I need you to go back to the Underground."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Yes, I know...a new story. This story is one my muse forced me to begin in spurts and paragraphs here and there, whenever my life allowed me the time. I'd been re-reading _The Grimms' Fairytales_ and many of my mythology books, which is where the idea for this story came from. I also have had a craving to write a "Sarah goes on an epic quest" fic, which also is to blame for Fairy Tale. I hope you enjoy this first chapter; the second one should be up shortly...it's already nearly done. :)

Oh, and those of you noticing the innocuous rating, I'll warn that it probably will jump up to T pretty quickly in the coming chapters.

**Please review!** What do you think of this beginning? Interesting? Boring? Wondering what that pesky Goblin King is up to? Let me know what you think! All comments/suggestions/reviews are savored.

* * *

_Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing regarding The Labyrinth. I only own my original characters. This fanfiction is made for non-profit, purely enjoyment purposes. Please do not copy or alter it; please do not repost it without my permission beforehand. Thank you._


	2. The Hospital

"_Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a magic door and a lost kingdom of peace." – Eugene O'Neill_

**Chapter Two: The Hospital**

"I'm glad you could come, honey," Karen said, kissing Sarah's cheek. "I know I've been asking a lot of you—"

"Of course I'd want to come," Sarah said, waving off Karen's usual words.

"And thank you for watching over Toby."

"Of course, Karen."

"Honey, are you okay? You look tired," Karen said. "Have you been sleeping?"

"Yes," Sarah said. She just hadn't slept very well last night, since a certain Goblin King interrupted her sleep—unless she believed him about it being a dream. Granted, at the end, she had woken up to find the room empty. The visit had been short after Jareth had said why he was there.

"_Are you kidding me? I'm not going back to the Underground, Jareth. I've grown up. I have a job. And I need to be here! No, you know what? This is just a dream. This is just a pathetic attempt of my subconscious to bring to my attention that I'm stressed out and not happy about something in my life. Well, big deal. I knew that already. So you can just go off to wherever figments of my imagination go off to."_

"_Sarah, I assure you, I am quite real. Well, as real as someone who can only appear in dreams can be…"_

"_I'm not listening, Jareth. I'm rolling over now—see?—and when I count to ten, you had better be gone."_

"_Sarah—"_

"_One! Two!..."_

"_You're infuriating, Precious. But, trust me, I will be back…"_

And Sarah had jerked awake, alone, in her own bedroom. But, she hadn't slept well for the rest of the night. Ten years and she hadn't heard from Hoggle, Sir Didymus, or Ludo, let alone the Goblin King, so why suddenly appear to her now?

"_I need you to go back to the Underground." _Sarah snorted. Well, it was obvious why he had suddenly appeared, right? Because of everything that had happened to her in the last few years. Her subconscious was just making excuses for her to forget the problems in her life.

Sarah blinked and refocused on Karen, who was giving her a slightly worried look. Sarah forced a reassuring smile and said, "How's Dad?"

"Sleeping. He may not wake up, but I thought…just in case…" Karen faltered and her eyes went watery. She looked away with a sigh.

Sarah took pity on the woman, this probably wasn't something she'd signed up for when she'd married Sarah's father. Sarah said, "Go home, Karen. I'll stay a little bit, okay?"

Karen nodded. "Thanks, dear." She slowly walked away, sniffling. Sarah watched her and noticed that Karen's shoulders were hunched; she had aged a few years more quickly than she should have.

When Karen walked around the corner, Sarah sighed and rubbed her hands through her hair before sitting down in the hospital's seat. Her father was just doing his usual round of chemotherapy, but afterwards he would be sick and drowsy; someone had to be there to take him home. Usually, Karen was the one who took care of him after treatments, while Sarah looked after Toby. Sometimes, she would keep Toby for the entire day, even letting him sleep over at her apartment, which sheltered Toby from seeing their father recovering from the cure of his cancer.

But today, Karen had called Sarah desperately muddled and tired. She was nearly crying on the telephone. Sarah couldn't think of a time when Karen had had a tremor in her voice, let alone nearly crying. She hadn't even blinked an eye when Sarah had yelled at her that she wasn't her mother and she never would be. Sarah had been fourteen then; eleven years ago, and this was the first time she'd nearly seen Karen cry.

The bright lights of the hospital and the constant movement in the waiting room—people shifting, groaning, moving back and forth impatiently, nurses coming out and yelling names—gave Sarah a pounding headache. She slouched in the chair until her neck was cushioned on the low back of the chair. After a moment of flipping through a five month old _Vanity Fair_ with boring articles of clothes she couldn't afford—someone had torn out all the leaflets with the perfume samples—she closed her eyes with a sigh.

_What am I doing? _Sarah wondered. _Maybe I should look for another job. I won't be able to ever buy a house on the salary I have now. _But then, she wasn't sure where she'd buy her house. Did she want to be in the same city as her parents? There was a standing invitation to move to California, where her birth mother was, but did she want to be there? Right now, of course, she couldn't go anywhere. Her father needed her, Toby needed her, and even Karen needed her.

But, her father would get better. His cancer had a 72% survival rate, after all. As long as it didn't metastasize; that was the risk, it would become worse, and his survival rate would drop to 45%.

Sarah sighed and drew up her knees, perching her feet on the edge of the chair so she could rest her head on the back of her arms. She watched as people painfully—or nervously or fearfully—waited in the lobby. Nurses ran back and forth, occasionally a doctor appeared and briefly talked to a nurse or patients or family members, then disappeared again. The hospital was like a living, breathing organism; the people inside the blood pulsing and running through it. Keeping it alive.

Sarah shivered at the thought and closed her eyes, willing herself to stop thinking. _Just stop thinking for five minutes._

"Stop thinking," Sarah murmured, her lips brushing against the back of her hand.

"Stop thinking about what, Precious?" a velvety smooth, _annoyingly _familiar voice said.

Sarah's eyes popped open and she sat up so quickly she almost slid out of the chair. Sitting in the seat next to her was Jareth. She looked around, as if someone could confirm what she was seeing with her own eyes, but everyone continued doing their work oblivious to the glittery, tight-panted man suddenly amongst them. In fact, no one seemed to be looking in her direction in such an obvious way that Sarah felt a prickle of unease jump up her spine.

"Am I dreaming?" Sarah whispered. "But my dreams get so much more…vivid…when you poof into them."

She realized how that sounded and looked away, hiding the flush that dusted her cheeks.

Jareth only grinned, which embarrassed her further, and the emotion turned into annoyance. Why was he doing this to her? Why was her _subconscious _doing this to her? After ten years, she shouldn't be having dreams like this—it just wasn't fair.

Sarah sighed. "Why am I dreaming about you again? Why am I dreaming about you lately? And yes, I know the theory—because my life is really stressful right now, I'm retreating to a time when I was in charge of my own destiny—but, really, I don't need this."

Jareth clicked his tongue, making a _tsk-tsk _noise. "Really, Sarah, since when did you become a non-believer?"

"Um, since my friends stopped coming to the window for a chat, which was right after I left the Labyrinth, I might add," Sarah answered. "It was pretty easy to convince myself that those whole thirteen-or-whatever hours was just an elaborate dream. My subconscious once again creating things to help me cope with a stressful situation, only then it was…" She turned to Jareth, but the words faded when she caught his expression. His lips were pressed firmly in a grim line and he looked surprisingly bleak as he stared off into the distance. His thoughts were a mystery, and despite Sarah still firmly believing he was a figment of her dream mind, she really wanted to know what he was thinking.

"Would it do you any good if I said they did not stop visiting you of their own accord?" Jareth said.

Sarah frowned. "What? Did you tell them to stop?" She felt anger blossom in her heart.

Jareth sighed. "I am responsible, yes."

Sarah gritted her teeth and took a hissing, deep intake of breath to keep her anger at bay. She wondered about Jareth's game; admitting something like that wouldn't endear him to her. She turned away, looking back at the hospital.

Jareth glanced around as well, and from the corner of Sarah's eye, she saw him stiffen. He said, "This is a hospital."

"Yes, they have them where you're from?" she said, then winced. She hadn't meant her tone to be so snippy.

"Why are you here?" Jareth asked. "Are you well?"

Sarah nodded, glancing back at him. He was staring at her with slightly widened eyes, and she wondered, briefly, if he was _worried _about her. "I'm fine."

"Then why are you here?"

_Is this some psychology trick of my subconscious? _Sarah wondered, with a sigh. _"Let's get Sarah to talk about it"?_

Okay, she'd play along for now. A dream meant nothing, in the long run. She watched a nurse at the desk. She seemed to be having a particularly unhappy phone call. Her body language was stiff and angry. "My father is here."

"Why?"

"Cancer."

"Precious, I'm sorry."

Sarah jerked, as if Jareth had hit her. She whirled around in the seat and saw compassion in his gaze—and for some reason that made her angry. The Goblin King felt _sorry _for her? Sarah said, "Keep your pity for someone who cares!"

"It isn't pity, it's kindness," Jareth said. "Has life been so difficult that you've forgotten the difference?"

"Since when is the Goblin King _kind_?"

"I've always been generous, remember Sarah?"

Sarah snorted. "What I remember is that our definition of 'generous' was very different."

Jareth shrugged.

"If you're trying to butter me up so I agree to help you—"

"Of course not, Sarah. You'll either help me or not."

Sarah decided it was time to focus on what Jareth was asking, so they wouldn't talk about her life. She was surprised by the anger simmering under her skin. It wasn't Jareth's fault if she was unhappy, stressed, anxious.

"I have something that might convince you to help me," Jareth said. He crossed his ankles and threaded his fingers together over his stomach. He looked almost companionable, as if they were sitting in a park watching the birds instead of sitting in a hospital in a dream. "Helping me would help your friends."

"What do you mean?"

"You remember them, surely? The ones from the Labyrinth? The dwarf, the dog, and the…rock singer."

"I know. What I mean is how does helping you help them?"

"Well, you see," Jareth said, "I'm trapped. And without their king, the Labyrinth has…fallen."

"Fallen?" She was getting really sick of the half-answers.

"You'll see," Jareth said. "The way forward is often the way back. The first step is to return to the Labyrinth."

Sarah's heart began to pound. "What do you mean?"

Jareth leaned over and cupped her cheek. Sarah shivered. She could feel the soft leather of his glove against her skin. For a dream, it was very real. He said, "You need to go back to the Labyrinth, Sarah Williams."

"Why?" Sarah murmured.

"The trail starts there. Find me, Sarah. I've lost my way."

Sarah leaned back, and Jareth let her go, settling back into his seat with ankles crossed and fingers threaded.

"For someone who's lost, you're surprisingly calm."

"I've been lost for a while."

"I didn't think the Goblin King would admit to being lost."

"After a while, being lost gets very boring."

"Why ask for my help?" Sarah was more pleased with this line of questioning. Question-answer, question-answer; they quickly fired back and forth.

"Because you're the Champion." Before Sarah could ask the obvious next question, Jareth added, "The Champion of the Labyrinth. The only one to complete it."

"Really?" Sarah couldn't help but feel a little pleased by that. "I'm the only one?"

"The only one," Jareth said, and he met her eye. She fidgeted under the seriousness of his gaze and finally broke the stare, looking away.

"I don't know if that's such a good thing," Sarah said, with a self-mocking laugh. "I've become one of those pathetic people who think their life peaked before it really began. At fifteen. I was so _alive _in the Labyrinth—in control, in charge. You threw curveballs and I hit each one out of the park."

"A baseball analogy," Jareth said, amused.

"You can thank my father for that. He loves baseball." Her voice snagged on the last word and she looked away, blinking the angry tears that rose in her eyes. She took a shaky breath and was surprised when she felt Jareth's soft leather against her hand. She wasn't sure she was ready to take the comfort he offered, so she shifted and pulled her hand away. Instead, she resorted to her usual defense.

A good defense meant a good offense.

"So, does this mean I'm to rescue you?" Sarah asked.

"You get to do exactly what you did before, Sarah," Jareth answered, shifting back in his seat. "You'll be in control—as much as possible on a journey."

"I don't know, Jareth…"

"Sarah, I would think you'd jump at this chance to be what you love to be," Jareth said, calmly, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward. "You'll be the heroine again."

"Right," Sarah said, sarcastically. "It'll just be like old times, except you'll be—what? The damsel in distress?"

Jareth smirked, but before he could say anything, Sarah realized something and frowned. "Wait, if you're not the villain this time…then who is?"

"Ah, that is the question, isn't it?" Jareth murmured.

Suddenly, the hospital rumbled as if hit by an earthquake. Sarah made a choking, surprised noise and grabbed her seat even as it vibrated violently, as if trying to throw her to the floor. She looked at Jareth with wild, frightened eyes.

"But—this is a dream! What's happening?"

"You're waking up, so I'll be brief." Jareth moved quickly, elegantly. One moment he was in his seat, the next moment he was kneeling in front of her, his hands gripping the chair to keep it still, and staring intensely into her eyes. The earthquake had no effect on him. He didn't seem to lose his footing.

"_Sarah Williams?"_

"Do you hear that?" Sarah asked, looking around. "Someone called my name."

"Sarah, look at me," Jareth said, urgently, and the tone of his voice made her look into his mismatched gaze. He was serious, grim, holding her steady when the world around her rumbled and roared.

"Come back to the Labyrinth, at least see it with your own eyes before you make any choices—"

"How?"

Jareth shook his head, as if waving aside the interruption. He tapped the pendant around her neck, causing her to shiver. She'd forgotten about the necklace. "This is the key. Say your right words and you'll be back."

"And then?"

"Then…you'll have to make a choice."

And suddenly, everything disappeared.

"_Sarah? Sarah Williams?" _Someone was shaking her gently and she opened her eyes to see a nurse standing over her. The nurse was a matronly woman, short and squat with a round body. She gave Sarah a kind smile and said, "Your father is ready, dear."

"Thanks." Sarah rubbed her forehead tiredly.

"You were asleep very deeply," the nurse said as Sarah stood and followed her back. "I had to shake you for a bit before you finally woke up."

"Oh…" Sarah gave a small smile. "I was having a very strange dream."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I know, right? Two updates in two weeks. I'm really trying to keep writing semi-regularly, despite my busy schedule. So I'm trying to pump out a new chapter every week or other week. So, Jareth sheds some more light on what's going on while still remaining fairly mysterious. What do YOU think is happening, readers? What do you think awaits Sarah in the Labyrinth? The plot is thickening and next chapter, Sarah goes back...to go forward. :)

**Please review!** I love hearing from all of you, it is the encouragement that keeps me going. All feedback is appreciated (as long as it's constructive). Reviews/questions/suggestions, I try and answer it all. :)

A few shout-outs:

_Cybernetic Mango: _I aim to please. ;)

_tu: _I will try my best. I admit I have a lot of WIPs, but I do intend to finish them all.

_LadyGrey69: _I'm glad you enjoy my writing. It's always a wonderful thing to hear.

And thank you to all the wonderful compliments and reviews. I love hearing from all of you! :)

* * *

_Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing of the Labyrinth characters (not even Jareth *sniffle*), however, I do own my own original characters. This fanfiction was created for non-profit enjoyment and amusement. Please do not alter, copy, or post it anywhere else without my permission beforehand. Thank you._


	3. The Labyrinth

"_The leaves of memory seemed to make / A mournful rustling in the dark." –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_

**Chapter Three: The Labyrinth**

"Sarah? Sarah?"

Sarah blinked and looked at Toby. "Sorry Tobes, what is it?"

"The movie finished. Whatcha doin'?"

Sarah snapped the red, leather book closed and tossed it onto her bed. "Nothing." She looked around the tiny room. It wasn't the same room she'd had as a child, that room had become Toby's when she'd left for college. This room was the spare, the guestroom. Funny, when she'd left her room for college, she hadn't thought she'd spend so much time back in her old home; she thought she'd entered the next stage of her life.

"So, you hungry?" Sarah asked, stretching.

"Yes!"

Sarah laughed at the enthusiastic response. "Okay! How about PBJs?" But when Toby shook his head, she suggested, "Grilled cheese?" He nodded enthusiastically and Sarah laughed, tickling him in the ribs teasingly. He giggled and raced out of her grasp down the hall toward the kitchen. She stood, then shouted, "Get the cheese, bread, and tomatoes from the fridge, Tobes! I'll be there in a sec!"

She picked up the book from her bed and stared at the cover for a moment. In gold letters, it said: _LABYRINTH_. She traced the "L" and wondered about the story. She'd read it so many times that even now, after not reading it for years, she remembered the lines of prose—the fairy tale. Karen had put the few books Sarah couldn't get rid of—but hadn't had the space to take with her—on the bottom shelf of the bookcase in the spare room. It was still here, next to her copies of _The Chronicles of Narnia_ and _Earthsea_.

Jareth had called her the Champion. In the book, it said the Goblin King had fallen in love with the girl…the one who became the Champion. She shook her head and put the book back. _Am I pretending this is real now? The journey through the Labyrinth was a dream caused by reading this book every day when I was fifteen. Just like Jareth visiting again is a dream because I'm unhappy again—like I was when I was fifteen._

"Sarah!"

"Okay, okay, Tobes. Onward to grilled cheese!"

The evening passed quickly between making grilled cheese, then playing catch outside until they had trouble seeing the ball in the porch light. They went inside, laughing. Sarah knew her parents wouldn't be home tonight; they were going to a resort for a relaxing weekend. Her father was still a little shaky after his latest round of chemo, but Karen had insisted that relaxing by the pool was just what he needed. Sarah wasn't so sure, but she hoped Karen was right.

# # # #

That night, Sarah had an odd dream. She was walking around in a foggy mist, in a landscape without any features. She couldn't even see the ground she stood on; the foggy mist obscured everything like a thick soup swirling about her ankles. Sarah walked for what seemed like forever, her heart pounding and wishing she would wake up. In her dreams, she didn't often know she was dreaming, yet this time she was acutely aware that this strange misty place wasn't real.

"_Wake up, Sarah…" _Sarah jerked around, looking for the source of that voice, and for one moment she thought she saw bright blonde hair, but then it was gone.

"Jareth?" she called, then louder: "Jareth!"

"_This isn't the place I wanted to take you, but I'm tired." _His voice sounded like it was coming from far away. Sarah jumped again, because the voice seemed to be coming from just behind her, but when she turned around, again she was alone.

"Jareth, this isn't funny."

"_I'm tired, precious. You must come for me, I don't know how much longer I have. It's been ten years already."_

"Jareth!" Sarah took a deep, gasping breath, suddenly beginning to feel unease prickle through her body. She stopped herself from asking more questions and processed what Jareth was telling her. Finally, she asked, "Why can't I see you?"

"_Tired…far away…you haven't come to the Underground yet."_

"I've got a family here! Obligations! What about my father? I can't leave him when he's sick. And somebody needs to look after Toby—"

"_Time travels differently Underground. I can give you a month, Sarah, and it will be like a dream Above…but you must hurry. After a month, I don't know what will happen to me…" _

She smelled sandalwood, pungent and earthy. She had a vision of Jareth walking through the mists toward her, but when she looked at the landscape expectantly, nothing was there. He must really be tired if he was avoiding an opportunity to make a grand entrance. And the idea of Jareth, the Goblin King, as exhausted, saying such mysteriously vague things as "after a month, I don't know what will happen to me" made her feel…

Well, the Goblin King was eternal. The idea of anything bad happening to him was alien to her. He was the villain from her dreams!

"_Won't you help, Sarah?"_

"A month," Sarah said. "Jareth, what's happening to you?"

The sandalwood smell was overpowering, so much so that she gasped and put a hand over her nose, but she could still smell it. The scent was intoxicating, but it made her feel dizzy. She closed her eyes, trying to keep standing, and she had a vision again. She saw Jareth standing in front of her, touching her cheek, and she jumped as she felt a cool breeze flit across her cheek like a soft kiss.

Without opening her eyes, she said, "Why ask me for help, Jareth? Even if I'm the Champion, we haven't been very close—"

"_You have a choice, my dear. Come back to the Underground and see with your own eyes what has happened…or wait a month and I will never bother you again. But neither will your friends ever grace your mirror."_

"Blackmail. A little bit of the villain still here?"

"_I am always, eternally, what you make me…"_

And then Sarah snapped awake with a start, actually jerking as she opened her eyes and found herself back in her room, the familiar ceiling a comforting sight in comparison to the nothingness of the misty place.

Sarah laid there, still smelling the phantom scent of the sandalwood, and her heart pounded as she replayed Jareth's words. Was he telling her that he was going to die in a month? Was that why he had gotten in contact with her? Desperation? But why was he so keen on getting her back to the Underground, what did she have to see there?

It could be a trap. It could be.

Or, the Goblin King could be just desperate enough to ask for help from her. Desperate enough that he would even call her the Champion.

Sarah pulled off the covers and murmured, "I'm a frickin' idiot." She looked into the full length mirror. It had a thick, black wood frame and a narrow, reflected surface. Sarah stared at herself wearing soft, flannel pajama pants with sheep printed on it and a white tanktop. One month, Jareth had said, and it would be like a dream in the Aboveground…so that meant a night. Well, he had said he could manipulate time, and when she had last been in the Labyrinth, thirteen hours had only amounted to a few hours Aboveground; just long enough for her parents to go on their date and come back, none the wiser.

_So, I guess I'm going to say all that really happened, _Sarah thought, her lips twisting sardonically. _I can't pretend it was a dream if I'm going to try and go to the Labyrinth._

Sarah hesitated, then turned purposefully to the small closet and dug through it for her leather satchel. She'd bought it years before, when she'd been making more money with a better job—before she'd moved back—and it still was one of her prized possessions. It was also waterproof and could endure quite a bit of a beating. Perfect for a little romp Underground.

Sarah changed into comfortable jeans, a simple green T-shirt, thick socks, and her hiker's boots. She hadn't worn them since she'd taken a trip to Arizona, but they were thick and comfortable. She put an extra shirt and underwear in her satchel, a folded knife from her camping days, a lighter, the Labyrinth book, a sweater, scarf, and hat.

She snuck out of her room and quietly padded to the kitchen, praying her family would stay deeply asleep above her. The guest room was at the end of the hallway, near the back of the house, while the other bedrooms were upstairs. The house was so silent, the darkness like a thick blanket. Sarah had to switch on the lights as she went, and in the kitchen she ransacked the pantry. Power Bars, trail mix, Granola bars, a snack pack of Gummy Worms, and three bottles of water. By now, her satchel distended with everything, and it was heavy, but better safe than sorry.

She went back, took a quick detour to the bathroom and grabbed a toothbrush and toothpaste. Jareth had said a month, which suggested this may be a prolonged trip Underground, and one thing Sarah could never stand was morning after breath. She slipped these items into the Satchel as well before turning off the lights in the hallway and going back to her room.

Jareth had said the pendant was the key. She fished it out of her T-shirt and stood in front of the mirror, wondering what he had meant. She rubbed the pendant between her thumb and forefinger, as if it was a genie's lamp. But, nothing happened.

_Use your right words, Sarah…_

Sarah licked her lips and touched the satchel, where the book now rested. Oh, she didn't want to do this, and yet she couldn't forget the way Jareth's voice had whispered in her dream-ear, plaintively. _"It's been ten years already…wait a month and I will never bother you again…"_

Nothing was ever simple with Jareth—not when she had been looking for her brother, and she doubted it would be simple now—so if she only had a month, she probably would need every second of that time.

Sarah took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart and said, her voice only having a slight tremble, and the pendant clutched in her fist, "I wish the goblins would come and take me away…right…now."

She cried out as the pendant heated up and she flung it out of her hand. Since it was on a chain around her neck, it simply bounced against her chest. It burst into light, like she had a little sun on a chain, and she flung up a hand to shield her eyes. She could feel the intense heat against her clothes, but it didn't scorch her again. She kept her eyes closed and her arm flung up like a shield. It was only a minute or two, but it felt like hours, before the pendant slowly began to cool. Slowly…slowly…she felt its temperature return to normal; the only heat in it the heat it took from her body.

Sarah slowly dropped her arm and opened her eyes. In front of her, the mirror no longer showed her reflection. Instead, she saw a familiar landscape. It was red, desert-like, with craggily trees and yellowing shrubs.

The mirror's surface rippled like a pond.

_Just like Alice, _Sarah thought as she stepped forward and touched the mirror. Her hand slipped through, feeling only the slightest resistance, like touching a soap bubble. Sarah had to step through the full-length mirror sideways in order to fit through it. She felt a brief resistance over her face and body and then the temperature abruptly changed. It was hotter, brighter, and windier. Her hair whipped around her face and the wind whistled in her ears over the desolate landscape. Sarah stood, staring at a familiar tree. She remembered it from the last time she'd been there—it had been at Jareth's back the last time she'd been here. So, if she turned around, that meant…

Sarah turned, but instead of seeing the grandiose Labyrinth like she had last time, she cried out as she realized the Labyrinth was obscured by a thick overgrowth of thorn brambles. But, it was unlike any brambles she'd ever seen before; these were huge, like a wave cresting over the Labyrinth and engulfing it. They grew over the outer walls, grasping tightly to the stone like the tentacles of a sea monster. Sarah ran down the hill toward the wall. She couldn't even see the entrance anymore due to the thorny growth.

When she got to the wall, she saw that the thorns were as thick as her wrist and over a foot in length, like little knives. They were red-tipped, wicked looking. The plants were firmly clinging to the wall and Sarah saw that the stone was crumbling where the brambles were growing through. The Labyrinth looked ragged; the regality that she'd noticed last time was gone. It was an old place crumbling underneath the weight of the parasite leeching it—those plants.

"What the hell?" Sarah muttered, looking around. What about everyone inside? Were they trapped? What about the Goblin City? What about the castle?

Sarah reached forward and touched the wall, thoughtfully, but when one of the plant tendrils rustled, she jerked her hand back. Sarah began walking the perimeter, looking for the door. At first, she walked quickly, but when she only saw more wall, she began to speed up until she was jogging. Her heart speed picked up, as well, but there was no change in the wall—just crumbling stone. She began running, her breath coming fast and her heart pounding. She didn't run for very long—she wasn't as athletic anymore as she'd been while in school—and finally she tripped on a rock and went sprawling on the dusty ground.

Sarah whimpered, feeling pain in her hands and knees. She picked herself up. She'd been running, looking for a way in, and she'd found _nothing_.

What had Jareth said? What had been his comment when she'd talked about her friends no longer visiting? _"Would it do any good if I said they did not stop visiting you of their own accord?"_

And what had she said? She'd asked if he'd told them to stop.

"_I am responsible, yes."_

Oh! She'd been an idiot! Why did she always dismiss Jareth's words? He layered so many meanings on what he said, and hid so much within his words. He was responsible, but he'd never admitted to being the one to stop them. Why? How? She glanced at the wall and plants. Did this have anything to do with Jareth's predicament?

Sarah adjusted her satchel and stood, looking out across the landscape, and something caught her eye. She frowned, walking a little further, following the wall once more until what had caught her eye came into full view. She gasped, her mouth hanging open in surprise. A few dozen feet away from the wall was a small shack, which actually looked kind of quaint with a thatched roof and old boards that made up its walls. Around it was a small garden of carefully tended flowers and standing in front of them, dutifully spraying at something, was Hoggle.

Sarah ran forward, her heart skipping a beat with relief. "Hoggle!" she yelled, waving her hand to get his attention.

The dwarf looked up and while he was too far away still to see his expression clearly, he seized up, his body language clearly betraying his surprise. He dropped the sprayer and went into the shack. Sarah heard the door slam and felt surprise, which slowed her down. She walked the last few feet to the shack and knocked on the door.

"Hoggle? Hoggle, it's me, it's Sarah."

"Go away! I won't fall for yer tricks!"

"But Hoggle, it's really me. _Really. _Jareth asked me to come back."

No reply. Sarah knocked on the door again. "Come on Hoggle, please talk to me. I'm so confused, what's happened?" She had a sudden idea and said, plaintively, "Hoggle, it's me, Sarah. I know I haven't been here for a while, or talked to you, and I'm sorry. Do you remember me? I gave you a bracelet made of plastic so you'd help guide me. You got me out of the oubliette, and faced Jareth with me. Remember?"

She heard some shuffling beyond the door, and then to her relief, the sound of the lock opening. Hoggle, his dear familiar face, looked out at her with wide, disbelieving eyes. He said, slowly, "Sarah?"

Sarah smiled. "Hi Hoggle."

Hoggle hesitated, then opened the door wider and invited her inside. When she was inside, he shut the door behind him. His house was a single room with a bedraggled rug on the ground, a small bed, a table and chair, and a sink next to the stove. Sarah stood, uncertainly, as Hoggle walked to the sink and filled a glass of water. He offered it to her and since Sarah's mouth was dusty from panting while she ran, she took the glass gratefully.

"Why'd you come back, Sarah?" Hoggle asked, sadly.

"Didn't you miss me?" Sarah asked.

"'Course, but you'd grown up. No need to come back. Why'd ya come back?"

Sarah frowned. "Jareth said you needed my help."

Hoggle snorted. "Trust that fool to get ya mixed up in all this!"

"All of what, Hoggle? What's going on?"

"Jareth didn't tell ya?" And when Sarah shook her head, Hoggle snorted again and said, "'Course he didn't. Wouldn't want ya sayin' no, right? Sit down, Sarah, it's a long tale and it begins soon after the night ya left the Underground."

Sarah did as he instructed, sitting at the table. Hoggle remained standing, restlessly walking around his home, glancing at Sarah. He sighed and said, "Something came inta the Labyrinth, somethin' from other parts of the Underground. I dunno what it was, but it caused darkness and mayhem and insanity, it warped the land and caused those accursed plants ta grow over everythin', and it made everyone…fall asleep."

"Fall asleep?"

"Yeah, they'd just lay down right where they was and close their eyes. I lived outside the Labyrinth, so it didn' affect me. Some of the Labyrinth dwellers ran for the forests and hills, that's how I know they fell under the sleepin' spell. All of the Labyrinth is overtaken…"

"And the king?" Sarah asked, after a moment.

"Gone. Jareth disappeared just before the plants began sproutin'. Nobody knew where'd he gone, what had happened to him, but there was a mighty sadness at bein' left behind to fend for ourselves. Soon, though, they didn't worry 'bout it, unless they dream uneasy…I hope not. I'm the only one that remained behind, far as I can tell. And I ain't seen another living soul—except I don't dream easy, so that's why I wasn't sure if it was really you when you came here." Hoggle paused. "But ya said Jareth brought ya?"

"Yes, he came to me in my dreams and asked for my help. He told me to go back to the Labyrinth and see with my own eyes what had happened here, that once I did, I'd make a decision." Sarah hesitated. "Is the Labyrinth dying?"

Hoggle shrugged. "It's an enchantment, ta be sure. Never thought I'd see the day Jareth was outdone by an enchantment. And I'm glad—despite what I think of him—that he's alive somewhere. Musta fallen to the enchantment early on. But is everyone dying? Maybe. Did Jareth say so?"

"He…hinted…"

"Then I'd say it don't look good for the Labyrinth," Hoggle said, grimly.

"But, Jareth didn't leave me any directions!" Sarah said, miserably. "I don't know how to fix this, or where to go, or even what to _do_…"

"Least it answers the question of whether Jareth's alive or not. The poofy king musta done somethin' to try to fix this mess," Hoggle said. "And yer the answer."

Sarah sighed. "I don't like this…"

"Yeah, well, whether ya like it or not ain't the problem," Hoggle said, shuffling to the stove and putting a kettle on the stove. "Simple fact: there ain't nobody left. Jareth's gone, everyone else is asleep—or worse—and I sure can't do nothin' like savin' everybody. So it's up ta you, Sarah. Can ya do it?"

Sarah opened her mouth to deny it. What about her own family? Her father? But, Jareth had promised a month…and she couldn't leave her friends in the Labyrinth. She remembered how close she felt to Didymus, Ludo, and Hoggle. She stared at Hoggle. She couldn't say no to him, not when he was staring at her so intently.

Suddenly, the kettle hissed, causing them both to jump. Hoggle shuffled over to it, getting out two cups and putting something in each, then pouring water from the kettle into the cups.

Hoggle put the cups down on the table. Sarah stared at the brown-yellow, amber liquid and the steam rising from it in a white tendril.

"Can ya do it, Sarah?" Hoggle asked again, bringing Sarah's attention back to her friend.

"Y—yes." Sarah nodded, looking away. She fiddled with the pendant and Hoggle's eyes followed the motion. He hissed.

"Ya gots it!" he said, pointing at the pendant.

"Excuse me?"

"Ya gots it! The pendant—the _power_. No wonder Jareth's comin' ta ya dreams!"

Sarah frowned and lifted up the pendant by the silver chain, causing Hoggle to shuffle back so suddenly, he jarred the table and caused the liquid in the cups to slosh. The liquid almost spilled, but Sarah quickly grabbed the table and stopped the movement.

"Hoggle—!"

"It doesn't burn ya?" Hoggle asked, moving forward and hesitantly stretching out a hand. He didn't touch the pendant, merely moved his fingers over it from a distance. "It burnt me once, when I begged and he bent over me and it touched me skin."

Sarah didn't know what to say to that, so she merely murmured, "It doesn't burn me."

"Ya must really be the Champion, then," Hoggle muttered, "and if we gots any chance, it lies with you."

Sarah didn't like the sound of that. She'd never felt like a Champion, or a heroine. She loved _playing_ the role, but really _being _one? Despite the adventure—despite the feeling that her choices really did matter—when she had been in the Labyrinth, she'd been constantly afraid and uncertain.

To hide her nervousness and uncertainty, Sarah grasped the teacup and brought it to her lips. She took a long sip, taking as much hot liquid as she could without scalding herself, and gasped, sputtering at the taste.

"Oh! Hoggle! What is this stuff?" Sarah asked, swallowing it down—but just barely. "It smells like tea and looks like tea, but it tastes like dirt!"

"It's wickens tea, from the wickens tree," Hoggle said. "It settles the stomach, nothing like it to cure nerves and upset stomach."

"Wickens tea or _wicked _tea? Ugh."

"Sarah, ya can stay the night if ya want," Hoggle said, taking a sip of his own tea without twitching. Sarah couldn't understand how anyone could enjoy the tea; it really did taste like taking a bite out of the ground.

Sarah hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah, that might be best. Just take a quick nap before I figure out what I'm doing." _Dreams…dreams upon dreams…_ Her dreams seemed rather enlightening—or not, depending on how you looked at it. Maybe tonight, she could ask a certain Goblin King some questions.

They sat while Hoggle finished his—and Sarah's—tea. Hoggle perched on the edge of his bed as he drank. Sarah talked about her life Aboveground, after apologizing for not trying to make contact—trying to know what was going on in the Underground. She apologized for her oblivion to her friends' plight.

"Ain't your fault, Sarah," Hoggle said, dismissing the apology and the explanation quite easily. He moved to put the cups away and for the first time Sarah noticed a familiar brown-amber piece of jewelry around Hoggle's wrist—a color startlingly similar to the horrible tea—and Sarah felt a jolt in her chest as she realized that Hoggle was wearing the plastic bracelet she'd given him when she was fifteen.

Since Hoggle hadn't said anything, neither did Sarah. Hoggle took an extra bundle of linens and made a bed on the ground, then insisted Sarah take the bed, despite her protests. After Hoggle finally "harrumph!"-ed and sat on the bed with a stubborn glint in his eye, Sarah couldn't help but smile and relent. She took the bed, which was as stiff as a board anyway. She could barely feel the mattress, but surprisingly, after Hoggle doused the oil lamps, she felt such fatigue her eyelids began to drift down, as if they'd become too heavy for her.

"Goodnight Sarah," Hoggle said, quietly.

"Goodnight Hoggle. Sweet dreams."

"You too—you'll need it," Hoggle said, half-joking.

_Yeah, probably, _Sarah agreed, just before she succumbed to sleep.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** This chapter ran a bit long, and in the end it didn't stop where I wanted...I had to stop it otherwise it would have been long enough for two chapters. As a result - and because I worked on Saturday - I didn't finish this until about five minutes ago. Sorry for the sloppy editing; any mistakes are my "oops." So, the journey is finally beginning to begin...yes I know, you're probably shifting impatiently, wondering when Sarah's gonna finally agree to help the Goblin King. What can I say? It's a slow burn but once the fire catches, it's going to be pretty intense for a while (at least I hope so), so until then, bear with me. Next chapter, Sarah has another visit from everyone's favorite Goblin King; she makes a decision; and she takes her first steps onto a new path and a new destiny.

**Please review!** What do you think so far? One thing I try to do is be a little different with each fanfic I write (although some themes seem to creep in no matter how hard I try. Evil plants, anyone?), and I hope I'm succeeding. What do you think of this journey so far? How do you like Hoggle? I find Sarah's friends - Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo - the hardest characters to write from the Labyrinth-verse. Their tone and speech patterns always make them seem like caricatures to me and not real characters. Hopefully, I didn't make Hoggle sound too idiotic. :) Let me know what you think!

And finally, a few shout-outs:

_Celestine Sane:_ Thank you. Hope you keep enjoying it!

_notwritten: _:)

_VampireMafiaQueen:_ The villain won't be revealed for a bit, but don't worry, he/she/it is there...in the background...waiting. *evil chuckle*

_Aperio: _Even the Goblin King can get lost! Although I bet it takes a LOT for him to admit it. ;)

_tomoe-gozen52: _I don't try to make Sarah hate her life, but the fact is, it's LIFE. It's tough and mundane and boring a lot of the time...maybe even mediocre. For Sarah, who has had a touch of the truly magical, that mundane part of life the rest of us take for granted and deal with, is agony. So, yeah, Sarah's life never seems a big draw. And then you throw in the conflict - in this case, her father's illness - and yeah, she definitely wishes she could escape. As for the Goblin King...I'm still getting a handle on him this time. One moment, he's mischievous, the next he's a little dark, the moment after that, he's morose and enigmatic. So...yeah, maybe he is more like the movie. :D

* * *

_Disclaimer-y Stuff: As always and usual, I do not own anything in regards to the original Labyrinth. I only own my original characters, everything else (even Jareth *sniffle*) is property of their original owners. This fanfic has been created for non-profit enjoyment. Please do not alter, change, or re-post it without my permission beforehand. Hope you enjoy!_


	4. The First Step

"_The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step" –Lao Tzu_

**Chapter Four: The First Step**

Sarah was in a beautiful, green, mossy forest. It reminded her of some lines from one of her favorite books when she was a child: _"The unicorn lived in a lilac forest…and she lived all alone. It was always spring in her forest, because she lived there, and she wandered all day among the great beech trees…" _This was a lilac forest in full spring, and maybe if she waited on the mossy rock—surprisingly comfortable, for a rock—the unicorn would appear.

It made sense to Sarah, so she made herself comfortable and waited, feeling the slight breeze against her cheek like a kiss. The bushes and trees whispered as the breeze flew through their leaves, and then a rustling grew louder. Sarah turned, expectantly. Something was coming…but she wasn't scared…

She also wasn't surprised when a unicorn didn't come out of the forest growth. Instead, a pale arm pushed aside the leaves and golden hair sparkled in the sun that shifted through the canopy. Sarah looked up and said, "Jareth…what are you doing in my forest?"

"Your forest?"

"Isn't this my lilac forest?"

Jareth smiled, surprisingly indulgent, and sat next to her on the moss rock. He pointed behind them, turning, and said, "I doubt your lilac forest would have that, precious."

Sarah turned, following the direction he indicated, and saw that something marred the horizon of her forest. Rising above the green canopy was a dark, twisty tower. It looked like it was about to fall over, and even from this distance she could see holes in the roof. She said, "Who lives there?"

"I don't know, I think it's always been there, and whoever lives there has lived forever."

"Riddles again," Sarah muttered with disgust.

They sat in silence for a while. Sarah surprised herself by resting her head lightly on Jareth's shoulder, ready to jump back if she needed to, but in this place—this reality—she felt surprisingly peaceful; completely at ease. All the problems in her life, all the uncertainty, all the _boredom_ and responsibility, seemed a far way off. Another lifetime; another Sarah. _Let her deal with it._

Jareth kept still. She felt the warmth of his body, smelled the sandalwood, which wasn't overpowering now but a nice, spicily pungent aroma. She had an urge to bury her nose in his neck and take a deep whiff.

"Are you doing this to me?" she asked, bemused.

"What?" Jareth asked. His voice sounded deeper and huskier from this close.

"Making me so trustful of the Goblin King? Are you doing this on purpose to get me to say yes to whatever cockamamie scheme you've come up with?" Sarah asked. Only in this reality would she say "cockamamie" like it was something normal. "'Cause I'll warn you now, I won't fall for it, even if I'm really relaxed and happy."

Jareth chuckled and shook his head, causing the tips of his hair to brush against her cheek and the side of her face. She shivered.

"So untrusting, Sarah," Jareth said. "When did you become so untrusting?"

"Always when it came to you," Sarah said, half-joking. She straightened and turned slightly to look Jareth in the eye.

Jareth studied her carefully, his mismatched gaze sweeping over her until she shuddered under it. He hesitantly raised a gloved hand and stroked her cheek, looking at her as if she fascinated him; as if she was a quandary that needed an answer, a knot with no center, a riddle with no clue. Finally, he said, "Cruel. You're so cruel. Will you be cruel and leave me to my fate?"

Sarah licked dry lips and noticed that the Goblin King's gaze followed the motion. It was difficult to concentrate when he stroked her cheek like that; very gently, without an ounce of that forcefulness that usually intimidated her.

Sarah couldn't trust it. She moved away, putting some distance between them until she was on the far end of the rock. They stared at each other and finally Sarah broke the silence, saying sulkily, "You want something, that's why you're being like this."

"Like what?"

"Nice!" Sarah leapt to her feet and paced to the edge of the clearing. She stared up at the tower for a moment, then back at Jareth. "You're never _nice_."

"Am I not?" Jareth murmured, sounding almost like he was speaking to himself. He looked at his gloved hand—the one that had stroked her cheek—with an almost surprised look on his face, as if the hand had spoken or done something it shouldn't've.

"Please, Jareth, what do you want from me?" Sarah begged. "Just tell me plainly. Tell me and if I can do it, I will—but only tell me. How do I find you?"

"Sarah, Sarah…I can't make bargains anymore." Jareth smiled sardonically. "Nor can I conjure a crystal. All I can say is that to free my people—your friends—I need your help. I pray you're still the heroine—the _Champion_—of the Labyrinth. I pray you haven't grown up _too _much…"

"What does that mean? 'Champion'?"

"My—the _Labyrinth's_—salvation," Jareth answered, enigmatically. "You can—and _will_—change destiny, if you just _try_. Will you try?"

"You said a month, and Aboveground it will be like a dream," Sarah said. "Is that true?"

"Yes—_if _you can find me. Once I am back to the Labyrinth, my powers can be restored and I can manipulate time again—for you."

"Manipulate time…so my father won't die while I'm here? Or get worse?"

"No."

Sarah nodded. "But where do I _go? _Where are you lost? I can't just wander aimlessly. Do I…do I go back into the Labyrinth? It looks pretty overgrown…" And that brought a whole new load of questions to her mind, but she waited for Jareth to answer before she asked any more.

Jareth looked at the tower. He said, "Start there. It's four day's journey to the east."

Sarah blinked, that was actually a true answer, without riddles or cryptic messages. She smiled, then she actually processed what he said. "_Start _there?" Jareth only looked at her and Sarah added, "How far must I travel? Jareth…what journey are you sending me to?"

Jareth stood and walked to her so quickly and gracefully, Sarah couldn't help remember the time in the Escher Room when he had appeared in front of her, flipping up from an upside-down staircase, always ready to throw her perceptions on her head. He had worn a tight-fitting, black outfit with leather breastplate, his hair like a white-gold flame—and he'd scared and fascinated her.

Now, she was transfixed in this dream world by Jareth's blue-brown gaze as he suddenly was in front of her—touching her, ghosting his fingers over her neck until goosebumps rose on her arm. She gasped as Jareth leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Oh yes, it will be a _journey_, Sarah, and you will need to use all your might and magic and cleverness. And you'll need quite a bit of luck. You'll travel very far, no doubt face many dangers untold and unnumbered obstacles, until you feel like weeping with exhaustion." His breath tickled her ear, causing her to shiver, and his voice tickled along her brain and down her spine, making her shudder. "I wish there was another way and something else I could tell you—some reprieve. But you are my—and the Labyrinth's—last hope. Your friends' last hope. Without you, Sarah, this land will sink into…nothingness."

Sarah turned so she could meet Jareth's gaze and give herself a little room. When he was so close—when her nose was filled with his scent and her body felt his heat—it was overwhelming. He had so much presence, she felt engulfed in it like flotsam on the ocean. She nervously scratched her chin, a tick she didn't even realize she did, and said, "You're not telling me everything."

Jareth's eyelids drooped slightly, shuttering his bright gaze.

"What about the vines? What's happened to the Labyrinth?"

Jareth clenched his jaw, looking away.

"Why is it overgrown like that, Jareth?"

Sarah watched the muscle jump in Jareth's jaw.

"What would cause that? Jareth!"

"A great evil," Jareth said.

"There's no such thing as 'great evil,'" Sarah answered.

"Are you sure, Sarah? And you, a believer in fairy tales. If you don't believe in evil, you may have grown up too much for this place."

"I don't believe in anything so simplistic as to be blanket-labeled as 'evil,'" Sarah answered, firmly. "People are more complex than just being 'bad' or 'good.'"

"Did I say the evil was a person?" Jareth turned and met Sarah's gaze, and what she saw in his expression caused her to shiver. A bleakness she hadn't seen ten years ago. "But, you don't have to worry about _that_. What has happened to the Labyrinth…well, it is secluded to the Labyrinth."

Sarah frowned. "You wouldn't lie, would you Jareth? Not when I'm offering to help you?"

"I've never lied to you, Sarah." He tucked her hair behind her ear. The leather of his glove brushing against her ear caused her to shiver again. Jareth moved back a step. "You're going to wake up in a moment, Sarah—"

Sarah frowned. "I have more questions!"

Jareth smiled and said, "Regardless, you will wake up soon. Remember," he gently picked up the pendant around her neck, cradling it in his palm as he inspected it, "this will offer some protection—and power. Always wear it, don't ever take it off. This is important, precious. Do you understand?"

The seriousness that had crept into his voice alarmed her. She nodded. "Jareth," she said, as the edges of the forest suddenly blackened, fading away from her vision. "Jareth…don't leave me with so many questions…"

Jareth murmured, "Good luck, precious…"

And Sarah jerked awake.

# # # #

Sarah stared at Hoggle's dingy ceiling and after a moment, she sighed and pushed herself to a sitting position, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms around her blanketed legs. The little house didn't have any curtains, so the sunlight streamed through the window. Hoggle wasn't there, but when she tilted her head and listened, she heard the familiar _foom-foom_ of his sprayer. She wondered about Hoggle, what it was like to be the one left behind. Did he stick with ritual tasks in order to keep busy?

She scratched her chin and pushed the blankets back. There was a pump at the sink which, in its crude way, provided frigidly cold water. Sarah used it to brush her teeth and freshen up. Afterwards, she put away her things in the backpack. She wiped her face on her sleeve, thinking, _Douglas Adams would be really disappointed with me right now—I forgot a towel._ She ate a handful of trail mix and then left the cabin. Hoggle was nearby, spraying the plants around his home, even though she couldn't see any fairies. She watched for a moment, a deep sadness settling in her chest like a stone.

She watched as Hoggle sprayed, the only moving thing in the landscape besides herself. And it was the desolation—the loneliness—that hung on the dwarf like a cloak, which finally made up Sarah's mind. She slung her satchel higher on her shoulder and walked up to Hoggle.

"Thanks for the place to sleep, Hoggle." She reached down and hugged the dwarf before he could shy away.

He shied away, patting her arm. "It ain't nothin'. I'm hopin' ya have good luck on this journey and I wish I could go with ya but…" He looked toward the wall and shook his head. "I ain't wandered far from the Labyrinth—and the Underground's so big."

"Is it?" Sarah looked across the landscape. The sun was nearly at the crown of the sky, but she could easily see where east was by where the sun had risen. She said, "I have to walk four days to the east. I'm not looking forward to it—I'm used to cars, after all."

Hoggle shrugged. "Least ya got a direction."

"There is that."

Sarah wanted to ask Hoggle to come with her, but it was obvious the dwarf didn't want to leave his house—or his "job"—and so she nodded and thought of hugging him again. She stopped herself by the awkward way he shifted from foot to foot, obviously uncomfortable by the show of affection. God, she missed her friends. Why had she ignored them for so long? Why hadn't she been more worried when they'd stopped coming to the mirror? Ten years…had Hoggle been alone like this for ten whole years?

"Okay, well, I'll be going then," Sarah said. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck," Hoggle said.

Sarah hesitated, then turned east and hitched her satchel up again, before she began walking. Four days journey…minus one step…two…three…four…

And before her, stretched out like a surrealistic painting, was the desolate landscape filled with orange-red sand and black, twisted trees.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** And thus Sarah's decision is made and she begins her first step on a new journey...one with plenty of obstacles and dangers untold. (*dramatic music*) Anyway, I've got the next bit already in the works...there's a chance I might actually upload it soon. Keep your fingers crossed. I know this chapter was a bit shorter, and I know the beginning was a bit on the long side, but trust me, the roller coaster has crested its first hill and now the ride really begins...

Oh! I forgot to mention, there's a few references here. The obvious one is Douglas Adams's _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_, (which in a fit of dyslexia or something I switched his first and last names around and had to go back and edit) but there's also a reference to _The Last Unicorn _by Peter Beagle (my favorite book). Can you find it? ;)

**Please review!** I love hearing what you guys think and I try to reply to all the reviews! What do you think about Jareth's appearance? And of course, what could the Goblin King be hiding? He is so good at that. :D

Finally, a few shout-outs:

_Thunderstorm101:_ I do admit, Jareth makes an excellent villain, but in this story, Jareth was a villain from Sarah's childhood. He fit the role. But who is he _really? _That is part of the journey Sarah is undergoing.

_Ayjah: _Me too. Hoggle is quite amusing in his own way.

_Aperio: _Weasling for more story is a compliment for me. :) Next chapter, more about the "problem" will come to light. I'm looking forward to your reaction!

_Pinkflora:_ Yup, you did get the reference. While evil plants are familiar, I'm definitely going for something different this time. :)

_Jinx1764:_ You got it! One theme I'm going to play with is whether her life stresses caused the current predicament or not - basically a trigger.

_LadyGrey69:_ Thank you! Your compliment put a smile on my face. I try to take a new spin on the old story (which is difficult! LOL!) and I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds Hoggle hard to write.

_merlinstwit: _Oh my, your compliments leave me humbled and eternally grateful! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story thus far! I won't give away the end, of course, but merely smile enigmatically (*enigmatic smile*) and say: I hope it will be everything you want/imagine. And honestly, I haven't heard it all before and I love hearing it...reviews are great feedback and keep me motivated! Eyes on the prize, so to speak! (Btw, wonder if the bf is annoyed by the shouting? :D)

_luna andie: _Phew, glad to hear I got Hoggle right. I always worry about that. I'd like to think if given time, Sarah would be better prepared for an adventure. She was smart enough to mark her path with lipstick in the movie (even if her attempt was thwarted). As for Jareth, he is an annoying obstacle sometimes...and other times a tempting one. :P

* * *

_Disclaimer: As always, I don't own any of the original characters of the Labyrinth. I only own my originally created characters. This fanfic is for non-profit pleasure only. Please do not repost, alter, copy, etc. this fanfic without my permission beforehand._


	5. First Interlude

**FIRST INTERLUDE**

_In the Aboveground…_

Toby jerked awake, nearly falling off his bed. His eyes popped open; there was no dazed, half-asleep moment. One minute he'd been asleep—the next he wasn't. Toby stretched and rubbed his eyes, flopping onto his stomach. Tomorrow was…Sunday…Sarah promised to take him to the park, the one with the pool and the twisty water slide. He was excited about it because his Mom didn't believe in public pools—that's what she literally said: "I don't believe in public pools. Filthy places full of E. coli."

When Toby pointed out that was fallacious reasoning, his Mom raised her eyebrows. _"Fallacious reasoning? Toby, just because you hang out with Sarah all the time doesn't mean you have to listen to _everything _she says."_

Which wasn't true—he didn't listen to _everything _his sister said. But he couldn't just ignore her, could he? Especially since she'd moved back and had begun to spend so much time with him. Oftentimes, when the school bus dropped him off two blocks from their home, it was Sarah waiting for him.

"_Why don't you ever let me walk home by myself?"_

"_Are you saying you don't want my amazing company? I assure you, I'm considered quite a wit by my colleagues."_

That's what he liked about his sister; she treated him like an adult. His Mom always reminded him that he was _only _ten, like it was some place he was stuck at. And Dad was always too tired. _"Dad's tired today, Toby. Be a big boy and let him rest, okay?" _What was he? A big boy or only ten? Sarah never said his age with "only" in front of it, never told him Dad was "too tired." She was upfront about Dad's illness; she was the one who explained what type of cancer it was, and then firmly grabbed him and hugged him when his eyes misted with tears and fiercely told him Dad would survive.

Toby sighed. When he couldn't sleep, his Mom would make hot chocolate with hot milk instead of water. But, his Mom was out tonight with Dad. He wondered if Sarah would make one for him. He kicked off the covers, hearing them fall to the floor with the soft rustle of linen. He padded quietly down the stairs and to the back of the house, where his sister's room was, then pushed open the door to peek inside. He was surprised to find the room empty and stood there uncertainly for a moment. Was she in the bathroom? Or out as well? He knew that sometimes when his sister couldn't sleep she went walking in the park, but if his Mom found out she'd left him alone, she'd be in big trouble.

Toby went back to the staircase and called up, "Sis? Sis, you here?" He went around the house, checking the bathrooms, but the house really was empty. It was just him. For a moment, fear prickled his heart. _He was alone…in the dark._ He looked around and the house suddenly seemed cavernous, with little corners that monsters could hide in. He shook himself. His sister trusted him to be alone, even if it was just for a few minutes. He doubted she'd spend too long away. She was just walking somewhere.

_I can make hot chocolate by myself. How hard can it be? _Toby wondered. He went into the kitchen, turned the light on with a _click_, and realized he'd never really paid attention where Mom put the hot chocolate mix. He tried the pantry, staring at the various food items. Cereal, spices, canned soup…he closed the pantry and tried the cabinets next. He found the cocoa mix next to the sugar and took both down.

There was only one splash of chocolatey-milk onto the counter as he stirred the powder into the liquid. He mopped it out with the kitchen towel. He put the cup into the microwave and then cursed when the milk spilled over around the third minute. But when he mopped _that _up, the remaining amount was surprisingly good—and very hot.

Toby gingerly held the mug, blowing over the liquid to cool it down, and switched off the lights.

_Sssh…_

Toby frowned, looking back into the kitchen. The soft hissing sound had been like a kettle getting ready to boil—or a snake. Toby shuddered. He hated snakes, ever since his friend in kindergarten had brought a pet snake for show and tell, then threw it at him to freak him out. Toby quickened his pace, the heat of the mug uncomfortable against his skin.

Toby padded to his bedroom and sat on the bed, sipping on the hot chocolate. He looked around, uneasily. Why did his room seem so alien in the dark?

He saw a shadow from the corner of his eye and his head whipped around, but it was just a jacket hanging off his chair. For a moment, it had looked like a person standing there, looking at him. Toby stood, flipped on the light, and looked around.

No, that didn't really help.

The house was too silent and empty. When would Sarah get home? He wanted Sarah to be home.

Toby put the hot chocolate on the bedside table and went to the bookshelf at the corner of his room, next to his desk. He reached up where an old, ratty teddy-bear sat next to an old novel of _Treasure Island_. Both items were gifts from his sister; the teddy-bear was, in fact, the toy she'd had as a kid. He pulled it down, looked at its pathetic face with the missing button eye, and tossed it onto the bed.

When he finished the chocolate milk, he turned off the light and snuggled down with his arm around Lancelot's neck. The teddy-bear's fur was still soft—probably from all the years it had been around. Toby ran his hands through the furry bear's head and his eyes began to droop.

_Ssssh…_

He closed his eyes, the strange sound echoing in his ears. When he opened his eyes, the room was the same; dark, shadowed—but strange. The shadows seemed longer, more sinister. He looked around, wondering if this was a dream—but when you're dreaming, you don't know you're dreaming. Right?

Lancelot had rolled under him somehow and the teddy bear's snout was jabbing into him. He pushed Lancelot away and turned over so he faced the wall.

_Ssssh…_

There was a snake in his bed. He saw the slim, scaled shape; the light from his radio clock reflected off the creature's back. He saw the head rise and a forked tongue glided over his cheek just as the snake's tail shook, letting off a dry, terrifying rattle.

Toby was so scared, he couldn't even scream, instead he made a choked, keening wail and flailed backwards. His feet tangled with the bed sheet and he fell off the bed. Thinking the snake may launch at him, he rolled away from the bed, sure that he was going to be bitten and then die a painfully slow, poisoned death. The bed sheets fell with him, tangling around his body and obscuring his vision as he rolled; he was too busy with the thought of _getting away_ to push the linens off him. He waited, too frightened to even look and see if the snake was advancing. His heart pounded so loudly that it echoed in his ears and his breathing came quick and harsh. He was so frightened he felt faint. He almost wished he'd faint, then he wouldn't be so frightened anymore.

Finally, when the suspense became too much for Toby, he pulled off the blanket from his face and looked around. The room looked the same. He didn't see any snake.

Toby felt silly. The snake was probably the last part of a dream, like when he was dozing off and suddenly felt like he was falling. Nothing to be afraid of; just a figment of his mind. However, Toby swiped the pillows off the bed just in case, but there wasn't anything hiding underneath them. Now his bed was just the white sheet tucked under the mattress.

Slowly, ready to run if need be, Toby got back on the bed, rearranged the pillows, and grabbed his bed sheets. He curled up in a tight ball and thought, _I'm not alone in the house. I'm not! _It was this thought, repeated as a mantra, that was on his mind as he slowly drifted back to sleep. He shouldn't have been able to fall back asleep—not with the scare he'd just had—and yet, relatively quickly, he found himself drowsily turning onto his back.

The last thing he heard was Lancelot falling off the bed with a soft hiss and thump.

He dreamed again, but this time he was a silver stag in a silver forest. He munched on leaves, wondering where the rest of his herd was—which was silly, because he was a _boy, _not a deer. His thoughts were still human.

He didn't like this dream. Despite the beauty around him and the silence of the forest, he felt vulnerable and weak. Prey. This dream was almost a nightmare.

Toby wished he would wake up. He was sure when he did, Sarah would be back and he'd run to her and she'd hug him. She always hugged him when he had a nightmare—and even though he felt he was too old for his sister to be comforting him, he'd let that fact slide this once. _Sarah always says "dreams are what you make of them," that if I just concentrate, I'll change the dream into whatever I want, _Toby thought, trying to focus on his animal body. He was a _boy! _A boy!

Nothing happened—well, worse, what happened was that he felt a touch on his flank. Toby jumped, skittering to the side, jerking his long neck around to try and see who had touched him, but the forest was empty. Then he heard a voice, and it sounded as if it was whispering directly into his ear: _"Sarah, hmm? Is that her name?"_

Toby yelled—except it came out as an animalistic keen. He was frightened, oh he was so frightened, and his heart pounded as he leapt forward on graceful, long legs. Four legs pounded the ground, taking him through the forest, easily dodging shrubs and trees.

"_I'm sorry for this nightmare, Toby dear," _the voice whispered, keeping pace with him. It still sounded like it was whispering right into his ear. _"You're going to have to run, Toby. Run faster! Faster! FASTER!"_

Toby screeched again, racing through the forest, trying to get ahead of the voice and at the same time praying he would wake up. Nightmares couldn't last forever. He just had to wake up.

* * *

_**Author's Note:** I'm not sure I like how this turned out. It was much more difficult than I thought. I've never written from this POV - a young boy - and hopefully I got it right. Improvement is constant, right? Anyway, the first hints to the antagonist appear. I'll keep the interlude notes brief, so shout-outs in the next chapter. But, **please review** and let me know what you think! Any guesses as to what's happening with Toby? Who the antagonist may be? Did you hate this interlude or like it? Think I messed up Toby's POV? I'd love to hear your comments/suggestions/questions! Also, I've upped the rating since things are getting a little darker for a few chapters. :)_


	6. Queen Mab

"_We dance round a ring and suppose, but the secret sits in the middle and knows." – Robert Frost_

**Chapter Five: Queen Mab**

Sarah hated this red landscape with its craggily, black, dead-looking trees. The odd thing was that despite the desert desolation, the sun wasn't hot. It was actually very clement, almost like home during early spring. The anachronism made her uneasy; reminded her that she wasn't where normal laws applied.

Somewhere in the last few hours—the sun had begun low on the east horizon but now fluttered towards the west, so at least the sun's journey stayed the same—her bag had begun to feel like a lead weight dragging her down.

She hadn't seen a soul. The only live things were the animals—birds, a rabbit once. She wondered if this was the Goblin King's idea of a journey—endless walking. Sarah stopped by a large rock, looking toward the horizon. The landscape was rising up, breaking away her view of what was coming and making her nervous. She didn't know what was coming. Should she rest now? She checked her backpack. She had only her sweater for warmth. Maybe she should have gone to a sports shop and bought a huge hiking backpack, one she could have stuffed a sleeping bag into, and some real emergency provisions. She'd assumed—quite stupidly, she admitted to herself—that she'd be able to find supplies wherever she ended up, but the truth of the matter was she had a limited amount of food and water. If she didn't find more soon, her journey may end more quickly than she'd like.

She munched on a granola bar as she considered her next move. She should at least crest the hill and see what lay beyond. One thing that would suck is if she slept on the ground and then found out the next day that a town had been close by.

Sarah put away the empty wrapper and stood, stretching. After a moment, she began her trek again, this time slightly uphill. It took her another hour to finally get to the top of the hill. She looked out across the landscape with a gasp. It was strangely, terrifyingly beautiful—alien, just as the Labyrinth had seemed that first time she'd seen it. The desolation stretched for miles. Once in a while, she spotted a lone saguaro that twisted up from the ground, but it was mostly those craggily trees and skeletal shrubs. However, in the distance, a green carpet of trees rose up, transforming the horizon. The tower had been in a forest, so she knew which direction she had to walk. Jareth had said a three day's journey, and she gauged the direction by the sun.

It took her the rest of the day to walk down the hill and to the forest's edge. A full three hours, with occasional breaks. Sarah was starting to feel really anxious about this whole food thing; her stomach growled but she'd rationed her meager supplies. Just inside the forest, she found a clear stream and she filled her water bottles there. She also washed her face and feet—she had a pretty big blister growing on her left foot that was beginning to ache fiercely. As she passed the stream and went a little deeper into the forest, she found a nice clearing where she could easily use her sweater as a pillow. It was warm enough here that she could sleep, so she decided to make this spot her camp ground for the night. The trees were far enough away that she could have started a fire, but she didn't want to risk it. By now, evening had fallen. In the forest, it was dark.

Sarah wasn't sure she could sleep. What if there were wild animals? What about bugs? Sarah had always been a city girl. Yes, her father and step-mother had sometimes taken her camping, back when they were dating and before Toby, but it had been easy camping with tents and sleeping bags, anti-bug lotion, a car to go into town and get supplies. Really roughing it was a whole different thing.

Sarah tried to find a more comfortable position on the ground. The grass was soft, at least, and the green smell of nature was soothing. Even though Sarah had been certain she wouldn't sleep—lying down had just been a way to pass the time until daylight came back—her eyelids soon grew heavy. She turned onto her back and yawned. The last thing she remembered was the scent of the forest, and then with a sigh, she fell asleep.

Her sleep, however, was short-lived. She knew, when she felt something brush against her cheek, that it had only been a small amount of time. Something tickled against her cheek again and she suddenly thought, _Spiders! _With a gasp, she jerked back, her eyes flying open.

It was still dark, but now there was a golden light. She heard soft rustling and the murmur of voices. She focused and saw a procession walking into the clearing; the thing that had brushed her cheek was a lady's dress as they had passed by her. Sarah sat there, stunned, as perhaps two dozen men and women walked into the clearing from the depths of the forest. The men wore silk trousers and shirts, many with intricate brocade waistcoats; the women had beautiful gowns of silk or cotton, with ribbons tied in their hair and soft slippers on their feet. It was like something out of a Shakespeare play, definitely _Midsummer Night's Dream_, but there wasn't anyone with a donkey's head. She did notice that many of the people seemed to flock around one woman in particular, the one at the head of the group who wore the most beautiful gown with embroidery in golden thread showing an intricate bird and floral pattern. Her hair was put up in a coif with flowers woven into it. She laughed, flapping open a turquoise, jewel-encrusted fan.

Sarah moved forward and grabbed her satchel and sweater, stuffing the latter into the former. The movement caught the woman's eye and she snapped her fan shut and pointed. "My my! We have a guest!"

The group hushed as they turned to Sarah, who suddenly found herself being keenly observed by forty-eight or so eyes. Sarah shifted nervously, unsure of what to do. Wave hello? That was silly, so she sat there, fidgeting.

The woman walked forward and crouched so she was only a few feet from Sarah, as if Sarah was a pesky animal in need of taming—or maybe a stray. The woman said, "Have you been there for a significant amount of time, girl?"

"Uh…yes."

"Well!" the woman stood and snapped her fan open again, fluttering it gracefully around. "You should be more vocal otherwise people will hardly notice you."

"I was sleeping," Sarah said, indignantly.

"Sleeping? Girl, there's time in the afterworld to sleep," the woman scoffed. She tapped her fan against her lower lip, thoughtfully, then snapped it shut with a surprisingly loud sound that made Sarah jump. "I know! Why not join us?"

"Join…you…?"

"Tonight is a harvest moon, and you always celebrate a harvest moon. We're here celebrating. Why not join us, girl? Why else would you be out in the forest this late?"

"I—I'm looking for someone."

"Oh really? In a forest?"

"Well, he told me to go here."

The woman's tinkley laugh filled the night. She said, "Oh, _he? _A midnight sojourn, then? A meeting between two lovers? Oh, how delightful!"

Sarah blushed. "Wait, you're jumping to conclusions. Actually, he's rather lost—"

"Oh, I haven't had a midnight rendezvous for _so _long. I miss the joys of youth," the woman murmured, giggling behind her fan. "Tell me this young man's name?"

Sarah sighed, running a hand through her hair. She had a feeling this woman listened only to the things she wanted to hear. She muttered, automatically, "There's no one."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Oh, what a shame." She _tsk-tsk_ed a few times, then said, "But please stay! Dance the night away, be merry!" She draped an arm across Sarah's shoulders and waved her fan towards the opposite end of the clearing. Sarah saw a buffet table laid out with food and her stomach rumbled. "Eat! Dance! Then dance and eat!"

"I—I really am not dressed for something like this—"

"Oh? You look fine to me," the woman said, smiling.

Sarah frowned, looking down at herself. To her amazement, she saw her clothes had changed; she was wearing a green gown in the same style as the women. Leaves and branches were embroidered onto it with black thread, and a beautiful sash wound around her waist. Her hair was woven with multi-colored ribbons, as well, that hung down and brushed her bare shoulders. She hadn't had anyone spontaneously change her outfits since…well, since she'd been in the Labyrinth.

"I don't know what to say," she said, lamely.

"Say you'll stay for our party, dear!" the woman said, leading Sarah toward the buffet table. The women clustered around them, giggled, and chatted while the men stayed at a more respectable distance, talking amongst themselves. Sarah saw a small music ensemble emerge from the forest. Men carrying an instrument each: a violin, flute, oboe, cello, amongst others she found harder to identify. They sat on chairs that magically appeared before them and tuned their instruments, preparing for the dance.

Sarah turned back to the buffet that was now in front of her and glanced at the woman, who smiled encouragingly. Sarah hesitated only a moment longer—she'd only had two granola bars all day and her stomach was painfully empty—before picking a prune-and-walnut tart. She nibbled delicately on it, enjoying the flavor.

"Excellent, you _must_ stay now. I am Mab, these are my ladies-in-waiting," she flicked her fan to indicate the circle of girls around her, "and those out there are lords and ladies of my court. Who are you, sweet?"

Sarah licked the stickiness from her fingers and reached for a goblet of wine. She said, "My name is Sa—ah!" She dropped the goblet, spilling red wine into the grass, as her amulet flared with heat. "Damn thing! What's it doing?" She pulled the chain so the amulet was away from her skin. She could feel the heat emanating from it.

Mab looked at it thoughtfully. "Tricky little thing, isn't that? No matter, I'm sure it'll subside soon."

"Subside? It felt like it was trying to take my skin off!" Sarah grumbled, testing the amulet with a fingertip. She found it cool again and settled it back, hesitantly, unsure if she should trust it.

"No matter! No matter! Why ruin a good party over a trinket? Instead, I will fill the name of one of my gentleman friends for your first dance." She reached forward and grabbed Sarah's dance card, which had appeared tied to her wrist with a bit of red ribbon. Sarah was too surprised to say anything as Mab scanned her own dance card, then picked a name from it and wrote it down on Sarah's card.

"Do not worry about embarrassing the poor man. He'll be more than happy to dance with you, and if he doesn't, he'll have Queen Mab to contend to."

"Wait—did you say Queen Mab?" Sarah frowned, feeling something prickle in her memory. "That name sounds so familiar."

"Oh? Are we of an acquaintance, you and I? I'm afraid I know so many people…"

Sarah scratched her head, then shook herself back to the present. No, whatever memory was triggered, it was gone, put back to slumber.

"Here, have some of this wine," a lady-in-waiting said, pressing a new goblet into Sarah's hand.

Music suddenly filled the clearing. Mab beamed. "Ah! The night can truly begin now! And I believe here comes your first suitor." Mab waved with her fan.

Sarah took a sip of the wine, enjoying the fruity, tart taste balanced on her tongue. A young, handsome man came over to her. He wore a green, brocade waistcoat and he smiled as he offered his hand. "It seems we are a matching pair," he said, indicating Sarah's green gown.

"What a coincidence," Sarah said, beginning to get into this role. A nice warmth had settled in her belly that made her feel at ease. She wasn't even worried about dancing, and as far as she knew, she couldn't dance. She wasn't even very good at the bump-and-grind stuff that she'd seen at nightclubs.

Sarah took the man's hand, and he bowed low over it and led her to the center of the clearing, where other couples danced. The music was lively and quick, and he took her hand and waltzed her across the clearing. She felt her dress sweep across her ankles and for a moment she remembered another time she'd felt that same sweep of fabric. The exhilaration was similar, but she'd felt more alive, quicker, with the Goblin King as her dance partner. She'd been trying to remember and outwit him. He'd been a worthy advisory for her adventure—though at the time she hadn't thought of it as an adventure, all she'd wanted to do was get her brother and go home. But this time, she planned on enjoying the dancing and the dresses and the handsome man.

When the song ended, he bowed to her and she, laughing, curtsied. And then there were other young men who placed their names on her card, and one stepped forward and she was waltzing. When one dance ended, another started, and there always seemed to be a name on her card and a young, handsome man who stepped forward to take her hand. Once, she looked over her dance partner's shoulder to see Queen Mab smirking at her. She opened her fan, hiding her face, and leaned to the side to talk to her lady-in-waiting. Sarah wondered what they were saying.

"Mab's a bit of a hag," the young man Sarah was dancing with said.

Sarah turned to him, frowning. He was beautifully handsome, with delicate and high cheekbones and long, golden hair. But, his best feature was, by far, his eyes. They were brilliantly blue and full of mirth, twinkling with life.

"Excuse me?" Sarah said.

"Oh surely you've noticed it too? Come, don't you think she has shifty eyes?"

"Shifty eyes?" Sarah glanced at Mab again. "She seems nice…"

"Of course," he said, amiably. He turned her sharply, causing her to brush against him. Sarah was pretty sure the move had been done on purpose, but when she looked him in the eye, he smiled innocently.

"What's your name?" Sarah asked.

"Oh, I don't use real names here, but you can call me Goodfellow. Most people do."

Sarah frowned. Goodfellow, another familiar-sounding name, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember _where_ she had heard these names. Her brain seemed slower than usual, like she was dreaming, or recovering from a fever. That should bother her, right?

"What brings you to this forest anyway? Not many travelers come this way, since it's an in-between place."

"In-between? Isn't that what the Underground is?"

"No, the Underground is a place where the forgotten and fantastical survive. But this forest…there's no lord that claims it, and it borders wild places, like the Labyrinth."

"The Labyrinth, I was there once," Sarah said, with a sigh.

"Really? Did you think to visit again? It's very different. I was a little disappointed when I came by. The Goblin King and I played poker sometimes—"

Sarah stopped dancing and stared at Goodfellow, her mouth hanging open. "You know the Goblin King? And you two _play poker?_" She tried imagining Jareth at a green felted table with a dealer's hat, furtively looking at his cards as Goodfellow threw some more chips on the pile in the middle. Sarah snorted.

"Of course, what else can us immortal types do? Poker is a great way to pass the time. There're also games of chance, as well." Goodfellow grinned. "I remember this one time, the Goblin King won his power of dreams from some second-rate magician. Oh, and there was that time we wagered on runners. The Goblin King kept winning that one, said there were no runners that could complete _his _Labyrinth—well, except I did win one wager…once."

Sarah took a step back. "You know who I am."

"The Champion, yes."

"Do you know what happened to Jar—the Goblin King, then?"

Goodfellow scratched his chin. "No, I haven't heard from him in a long time and when I went down to Labyrinth, it was crawling with vines. Hope the guy's okay, there's not a lot of interesting people around here."

"Oh! Do stop hogging the girl!"

Sarah turned to see Mab leaning close and smiling at her. "Right, Sarah? You still want to dance, don't you?"

"Actually, I think I'm done with dancing for a bit."

"Oh? Then are you hungry?"

"No, actually…how long has it been?" The canopy blocked the night sky and filtered the moonlight in a way that made it impossible to tell how much time had passed. How many gentleman had she danced with? Besides Goodfellow, she couldn't seem to remember even one. "I should get some sleep or something before I have to leave, I have a long journey ahead of me."

"Leave? But why?"

"Well, I'm on a kind of quest," Sarah said, glancing at Goodfellow. He seemed to be watching the exchange between her and Mab with amusement. Sarah suspected she'd find little help from him.

Sarah was beginning to dislike Mab. She kept coming off as too strong and pushy. Why was she so interested in her, anyway? She frowned and said, "I have to leave to continue my quest."

"Your quest, you're too young for a quest. You should be dancing—"

"I've had enough of dancing, thank you." Sarah started to unwind the ribbon around her wrist, trying to pull off the dance card.

Mab's smile faded. Her eyes flashed and she said, "It's not wise to throw my hospitality back at me, girl."

Sarah shuddered, dread growing in her stomach. Had she fallen into the same stupid trap as she did last time—thinking the Underground could be a piece of cake? _Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered. _

"Excuse me?" Sarah whispered.

The dancers had stopped, the ladies-in-waiting looked like they were holding their breath; everyone was staring at the two. Something ugly flashed in Queen Mab's eyes, something that made Sarah shudder in fear, and then Mab smiled prettily again. "Oh, never mind honey. If you must leave, then you must, but maybe I can help you. I know all these parts of the Underground…" Mab opened her fan and slowly flapped it toward herself a few times. She snapped at a lady-in-waiting, who scurried off and grabbed a drink from the buffet table. She came back and presented it to Sarah, smiling. Sarah noticed that she was beautiful, like all the ladies-in-waiting, but her eyebrows were plucked away and redrawn with black kohl, except in the corner, a little flower was growing.

Sarah reeled back and then glanced at the other dancers. Some of them had flowers growing from their hair, finger nails, and ears. How did she not notice that before?

Goodfellow made a soft "hmmm" sound, and glancing at him, he met her eyes and she realized he was the only one without greenery growing on him. Queen Mab made a soft noise, causing Sarah to jerk her attention back to the woman. Mab had flowers in her hair, and while it looked like they were strategically woven into her hair, on closer examination, Sarah saw green shoots that went into her scalp.

She stumbled back another step. "I think I'll be going—"

Mab reached out and grabbed her forearm. She smiled, showing off rows of perfect, pearlescent teeth. "What a beautiful trinket you have there." Mab leaned forward and touched the pendant. She grasped it and lifted it, looking at it carefully. Sarah wanted to pull away, but she found she couldn't. She stared into Mab's eyes and her own widened as she felt dizzy; the woman's face blurring slightly and reforming. Sarah blinked, trying to clear her sight.

"I've seen it's like before, but where?" Mab said, tapping her fan against her full, lower lip, a smile curling the corners.

And before Sarah could stop herself, she whispered, "Goblin King…"

"Ah! That's right! How _could _I forget?" Mab said, smiling again.

"Do you know where he is?" Sarah asked, her voice drowsy, her eyelids heavy. Why did her mind feel like it was working through pudding? And why was Mab so close to her? Sarah was definitely a "personal space" type of person, unless she was in a relationship with the person in question, and she _definitely _wasn't in a relationship with Mab—she didn't even _like_ Mab…so why did she stay so long at the party? That didn't seem like her.

Mab stroked the pendant with the pad of her thumb. "Give it to me and I'll tell you exactly where he is. I can find out as easy as whispering to the wind. Just give me the pendant…"

Sarah frowned. That seemed logical. She needed the pendant to find Jareth, but if she found Jareth, she didn't need the pendant. Right?

Goodfellow suddenly sighed and stepped forward, grabbing Sarah's arm and pushing her back a step. The pendant slipped from Mab's fingertips, tapping against Sarah's skin and causing her to shudder, her mind suddenly clearing as if a fog was clearing. She blinked and shook her head.

"Cut it out, Mab, you don't need her little trinket. You've got plenty of pretty things—like a magpie, really."

Queen Mab hissed, whirling to face Goodfellow. "_Póg mo thóin!_" Her face twisted with anger and she hissed, "When addressing me, you'll refer to me by my _title, _knave, or I shall kill you."

"Ah, no matter how foul the words, they always sweeten upon those beautiful lips, _majesty_," Goodfellow said, bowing mockingly. "I apologize, this servant forgot his place—"

Mab's eyes widened, the orbs brilliantly emerald despite the lack of moonlight. She hissed, "Robin Goodfellow! You were banished from my sight on pain of death!"

Hearing the full name caused it to click in Sarah's befuddled mind. She was feeling the beginnings of a headache, but she still managed to point a finger at Goodfellow and say, "Ah! I know you! I _played_ you in my high school's play of _Midsummer's Night_!"

Queen Mab's threat was momentarily forgotten as the two people turned to Sarah. She clenched her jaw, wondering if she'd just made a stupid mistake. Everyone else in the clearing had fallen to the background—literally. They were encased in shadow, and as Sarah glanced around, unhappy to have both these people staring at her, she realized that the ladies-in-waiting, the women, and the gentlemen, all stood rooted in place and…was that _bark_ on their skin? She could see the wooden whorls of bark on forearms, collarbones, and chins wherever the moonlight filtered through the canopy and hit them. Oh god, what was happening? This was turning into a nightmare.

Goodfellow grinned, ignoring the expression on Sarah's face which she was sure was wide-eyed and fearful. He said, "Ah! I've never had a better description!" He cleared his throat and recited, "That shrewd and knavish sprite / Call'd Robin Goodfellow: are not you he / That frightens the maids of the villager—"

Mab screamed in rage and made a gesture as if to throw something at Goodfellow. In her palm, a bright ball of green light erupted like a flame and flew for Goodfellow's head. He dodged, lightning quick, appearing by Sarah's right shoulder. He grabbed her and whispered in her ear, "Sorry love, I think my time here is over. Tried to crash the party and got caught. Stay out of trouble, alright? Oh, and don't drink or eat anything offered to you unless you've made it yourself." He paused, pushing Sarah out of the way of another lobbed, green flame ball. Mab screamed again. "Shakespeare was a great descriptor. Even had some lines about _her_…" and with that final statement, Goodfellow disappeared.

"Ah! I hate Shakespeare! Stupid git described me as a midwife's fairy the size of an agate stone!" Mab screamed, grabbing her hair in her temper tantrum and disrupting her beautiful coif. Some of the flowers pulled out of their stalks, drifting to the ground in a shower of petals. Mab stamped her foot and whirled on Sarah, taking a threatening step forward. "Give me the damn pendant!"

The reference of Shakespeare unlocked Sarah's memory again. Of course, she'd had to read the play so many times throughout her high school and college years—_Romeo and Juliet_. She murmured, "_Queen Mab_. I wish I'd paid more attention in English class."

Queen Mab sneered.

"Why do you want the pendant?" Sarah asked.

"You're a fool, Champion. You don't even know what you have hanging around your neck like a target."

"You know I'm the Champion too? Does _everyone _know?" Sarah took a step back, keeping the same distance between herself and Mab. "Look, Mab, I can't give you the pendant. The Goblin King gave it to me—"

"And he's a buffoon! You're nothing but an idiotic, _mortal_ girl. You were fooled by the oldest trick in the book!" Mab waved toward the buffet table. "Enchanted food."

_Yeah, it was pretty pathetic. Guess the peach wasn't lesson enough, _Sarah thought, but she didn't comment.

"Besides," Queen Mab said, smiling, "the era of the Goblin King is over. His kingdom lies in ruins, his people are gone, his power is _no more_. Nothing you can do will bring it back, girl. He's sent you on a suicide mission and you're too much of a dolt to even see it."

"I—"

"Give me the pendant and I'll let you go back home. I'll even give you your heart's desire. One wish—anything—I'll give it to you." Queen Mab flicked her palm up, as if she was cupping something, much like Jareth when a crystal sphere appeared, but in Mab's palm it was a green flame that spurted to life. She looked into the flame, a smile curving her full lips again. "Perhaps you'd like a man, a prince, who will call you his princess and fight metaphorical dragons for you? Who will always hold you close at night and make you scream in pleasure?"

Sarah's lip curled. "Tempting me with a wish? A little clichéd."

"Ah, wait, I've got it this time. There's a smudge in your family line…someone is sick," Queen Mab murmured, her voice dropping into a seductive tone. It glided over Sarah like honey, making her shudder, making her think of her father. "An illness that may lead to death—and you, hating yourself because though your father is sick, you find yourself hating the extra responsibility forced upon you due to his illness. You wonder if you've changed at all, if you've grown at all, if you deserve condemnation for your errant thoughts. But with my gift, that will all go away. I will give you your father's health back. I will give you your old life back."

Sarah bit her lower lip. Now that was a temptation, probably just as clichéd but one that was more difficult to refuse. If Sarah thought about it longer, she might say yes; if she didn't think about it and just acted on her emotional impulses, she could keep _some _integrity. After all, what Mab said was true and in Sarah's heart, there was a dark ball of shame. She _did _loathe the added responsibilities that had suddenly came her way just as her life was starting out; the ones that forced her to give up a job she liked and take one at smaller pay in a smaller city. She had felt like she was going backwards, not forwards. She hated feeling those emotions—the anger, the shame, the impatience—because her father was _sick _and it wasn't his fault.

Sarah clenched her hands into fists at her side and said, before she could think further, "Sometime she driveth o'er a soldier's neck, / And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats—"

Mab hissed. "Stop."

But Sarah didn't. She knew the power of words and she recited Mercutio's speech like a talisman; the only thing she could think of to combat Queen Mab's tempting offer. "Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes, / And being thus frighted swears a prayer or two / And sleeps again. This is that very Mab / That plaits the manes of horses in the night, / And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs, / Which once untangled, much misfortune bodes: / This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs—"

"Insolent girl!" Mab screamed, extinguishing the green flame.

When Sarah went back Aboveground, she'd have to write thank you notes to her English teacher and drama teacher for making her memorize lines in Shakespeare.

"I'll _kill _you then and take the pendant from your cold corpse!" Queen Mab screamed. She suddenly threw her hands wide and her fan turned into flower petals, falling from her palm. She tipped her head back and yelled, "Bring her to me and we'll dance all night! _Bring her to me!_"

"Oh hell," Sarah muttered as the people behind Mab who had been frozen like trees before suddenly began to shake and creak. She saw them pull their feet up and rip away roots, she watched as they brushed bark off their skin as if they were just flaking off dried paint. She stumbled back a step as every head turned toward her, some in unnatural ways that necks shouldn't move. Their eyes glowed green.

_Fight or flight, _Sarah's brain yelled. _Fight or flight!_

Sarah whirled and ran through the forest. She hadn't expected her journey to turn into a nightmare so quickly, and what was worse, this wasn't anything like when she'd been young. The Labyrinth had frightened her at times, had made her wonder whether she'd ever make it out, but she'd never felt such all-encompassing fear. Her heart pounded in her throat, making her breath come out in ragged choking noises. She stumbled on roots, branches hit her face, but she kept on her feet despite it all and ran for all she was worth.

She whirled to avoid a tree and glanced over her shoulder. She cried out in despair at what she saw; dozens of…_creatures_ moving through the forest. They were shadowed by the canopy, but as they moved, circles of moonlight fell upon them like a netting and she saw…horns, tree branches growing out of flesh, patches of fur, beaks, and glowing eyes. Always glowing eyes. They moved inhumanly, gliding across the forest floor, easily avoiding every root that caused her to stumble and every branch that whipped across her face. Why not? They were part of this damn forest.

Sarah's breath came in a sob and she thought, frenzied and frightened, _I who have the gift can hear / Hounds and horn and tally ho_. It was a night for poetry and nightmares. She knew what chased her. From the deepest, darkest parts of her memories, she remembered the folklores and the fairytales.

The Hunt had been loosed upon her, had caught her scent like she was a rabbit. There would be no escape. She would die. She could imagine Queen Mab smiling over her dead body, tapping that damn fan against her lower lip. _"Insolent girl…" _

Sarah stumbled again and this time fell, scrapping her palms as she caught herself. She cried out and heard answering, triumphant calls behind her. She struggled to her feet and kept running, but her lungs felt leaden, her breath burned inside her. She couldn't keep going much longer. Her palms ached and she clenched her hands into fists, desperately pumping her arms.

The pendant slapped against her skin. Sarah sobbed, "Save me, get me out of here…I don't want to die…"

_Say your right words…_

"Oh please, oh please."

_Where'd she learn that rubbish? Use…your…right…words…_

Sarah opened her mouth, unsure of what she would say, when suddenly a hand grabbed her hair. She screamed and managed to barely keep on her feet, but she had to stop running or risk pulling out her hair. She grabbed the hand tugging at her and looked up through teary eyes to see Queen Mab standing over her, grinning triumphantly. The Hunt was behind her.

Sarah screamed, "I wish the goblins would come and take me away right now!"

The pendant flared, giving off a bright, white light. Queen Mab stumbled back, her green eyes widening. "No! It's not fair! I _had_ you!"

Sarah fell to her knees, gasping for breath as the light engulfed her, blocking everything from her vision—Queen Mab, the Hunt, and the forest. She heard Queen Mab scream, "You can't win, you stupid girl! The Goblin King has angered a stronger predator than even himself and sent a little sheep in to save him! _A suicide mission, do you hear me?_ You'll die. _Ní dhíolann dearmad fiacha_!"

_I don't care as long as I'm away from _you_, _Sarah thought, closing her eyes and falling into the light.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Whew! I know it's been a while. I've been horribly busy - and then I caught the flu! Which I'm still recovering from. I decided to take this time, while I have some energy, to get chapter 5 done and posted. I hope you liked it; I'm rather proud of it myself. Since last chapter left with Toby, we find ourselves back with Sarah. There's also a few references here, for those who like to hunt for that kind of thing. Of course, a few are mentioned upfront: _Midsummer Night's Dream_ and _Romeo and Juliet_. Shakespeare has been on my brain recently, due to numerous reasons, and I just finished re-reading _Romeo and Juliet_ for the first time since...well, high school. I guess it's no surprise that I come up with this, then. Queen Mab is definitely different than Mercutio describes her (one of the reasons why Mab hates Shakespeare), although Goodfellow would argue the "hag" part. ;) Robin Goodfellow was a surprise to me; I think my muse was cackling in the background. But it was fun to have a cameo with him! There's also some Celtic/Gaelic in there (hopefully I found good translations in my research). I bet you can guess pretty closely what Mab was saying to Goodfellow - it wasn't very nice. I won't translate the last bit she says...yet. *dun ta dun*

Oh! I almost forgot! The brief lines of poetry Sarah recites, about the Hunt, are from "A Fairy Hunt" by Francis Ledwidge. :)

As always, please **read & review! **Tell me what you think! **All suggestions/comments/questions/etc. **welcome...feed the muse, she's hungry and she's been poking me with a stick to try and keep me writing despite my health.

A few quick shout-outs because it's late and I wanna go to bed:

_merlinswit:_ I guess I keep giving you things perhaps not great to read before bed. Hope the bfs not sleeping this time! Enjoy! :)

_pinkflora & Kou Shun'u: _Who knows? *enigmatic smile*

_VampireMafiaQueen:_ Ah, Toby did hear something. And I always think, "What happens in the Aboveground when Sarah's gone?" I expect that time moves more slowly Aboveground, as it seemed to in the movie, and incorporated that in my fic. Jareth even says that it'll be only a night, but he also says he'll make it better _after_ Sarah finds him, so I expect stuff is gonna go down before that. :D

_tomoe-gozen52:_ Good job on spotting the name thing. It's popped back up in this chapter; it'll pop up again. I suppose I shouldn't mention that I'm a lot older than 10 and sometimes I still get freaked out at night? Had to stop watching horror movies when I got my own place, which is sad because I love horror movies. :D

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments/reviews! And thanks to everyone for the feedback on Toby's POV. He'll be popping up again so I want to make sure I write him correctly...

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Despite my attempts, Jareth does not belong to me. He, Sarah, as well as anything having to do with the Labyrinth, belong to the original creators. I merely claim ownership upon my original characters. Please do not copy/take/alter/re-post this text without permission beforehand; it was posted here for non-profit, amusement purposes.


End file.
